Michael's Updates
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Hello and welcome to this free (STEAM)2 demonstration course for Grade K-8 teachers. This open course is currently designed teaching programs in colleges and universities to use both in North America with plans to push out versions for other Commonwealth universities and teaching programs over the next two years. In this demonstration course you will be exploring science education within a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics) model over the course of 14 weeks. The course is laid out in five learning modules and includes a final (STEAM)2 school and community sharing assignment for pre-service and new teachers. 

In Module 1 you will be exploring the nature of STEAM and exploring children's ideas and conceptions about science and nature through interviews and pre-assessments. Module 2 includes AI augmented explorations of the STEAM curriculum and cross-curricular lesson planning for new teachers. Module 3 examines STEAM within the contexts of multicultural and exceptional inclusion for diverse populations of Grade K-8 learners. Modules 4 and 5 explore community partnerships in STEAM and sharing your final school and community assignments for this course. 

In addition to this course modules, we have included STEAM resources and materials for pre-service and elementary educators. We are looking for colleges, universities and teacher educators to partner with as we move this demonstration curricula into its own multilingual open source platform and educational non-profit. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions or 

Module 1 (Weeks 1-3):
Nature of STEAM & Children's Ideas/Conceptions

In the first three weeks of our course we are going to look at the history and nature of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) education. We will also begin exploring children's ideas and conceptions of STEAM through our own childhood experiences and interviews with young students as our first teacher activities. Click below to begin. Our STEAM theme for Module 1 will focus on autonomy, space exploration, robotics, and forces in motion. 
AI connections and activities for pre-service teachers will focus on developing pre-assessments on children's ideas related to STEAM. 

Module 2 (Weeks 4-6):
Teaching STEAM Across the Curriculum 

In the second part of this course we will dig into the (STEAM)2 framework and begin exploring the cross curricular nature of STEAM education through reading, writing, art and other leaning activities including the design of small micro-lessons you can embed into other subject areas. Teacher activities in this module including cross-curricular lesson planning and teaching. The STEAM theme for Module 2 will focus on the earth sciences, extreme weather, and geologic forces (such as earthquakes and vulcanism). 
AI connections and activities for teachers in this module will focus on using AI to transform national STEAM curricula into grade specific lesson plans and activities that include cross curricular connections. AI is also useful to design risk and safety plans for your STEAM lessons and activities. 

Module 3 (Weeks 7-9):​STEAM for Diverse Learners

In the third part of this course we will be researching and discussing the importance of inclusive STEAM for diverse learners. More specifically we will look be looking at teaching and designing STEAM activities within the context of the multicultural and exceptional diversity of our students and the diverse communities we work with. Teaching activities in this module include inclusive lesson planning that includes adaptions and modifications for the young students we are working with in schools today. The STEAM theme for Module 3 will focus on ecology, habitats, and the diversity of life your students can study both locally and online. 
AI connections in Module 3 include activities for modifying and adapting STEAM lessons and activities for culturally, linguistically, and exceptionally diverse children such as the inclusion of word banks, translations, and adaptive tactile elements (which can be linked to 3-D printing activities). 

Module 4 (Weeks 10-12)
STEAM & School/Community Partnerships

In the final major part of this course, we will be exploring school-community partnerships in STEAM education. This includes an understanding of the difference between formal STEAM learning (school-based programs) and informal STEAM learning (community organizations such as science museums, nature centres and robotics organizations). Teaching activities include designing a school STEAM night for families (class STEAM museum, family nights, or science fairs) and researching what STEAM organizations do for schools in your community. The STEAM theme for Module 4 will focus on microwords and body systems including inclusive health/sex education lessons and activities. 
AI connections in Module 4 include using AI to design field trips and activities for your school. 

Module 5 (Weeks 13-14)
Final Projects & Sharing

Welcome to the final part of our STEAM course where we will be sharing your final assignment, course takeaways and teaching ideas on STEAM lessons and learning for your future students. 

(STEAM)2 Resources for New Teachers

This is the resource guide for this course with links, files, and other resources introduced in this course for easy access and future teaching. AI resource links are included below as well.