Guest Co-Editors

Tracie Costantino, RISD, and Robert Root-Bernstein, Michigan State University

Scope

The STEAM movement, focused on integrating arts (broadly encompassing visual and performing arts, crafts and design) into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is well underway. We are avid advocates of this movement but worry that integration of arts and sciences into curricula from K-12 through graduate and professional education is not supported by sufficiently rigorous pedagogical studies. If STEAM is to succeed, it must be underpinned by pedagogical principles, methods and materials of high quality and reliability. Toward that end, the Editors of Leonardo have decided to create a STEAM Initiative on Education that will devote a section of the journal to innovative, inspiring and important studies of STEAM pedagogies. 

In the spirit of interdisciplinarity, we explicitly welcome diverse methodologies such as mixed methods designs and novel assessment methods designed to meet the special needs of STEAM educators. We particularly welcome studies employing well-designed, randomized class-room controls and utilizing well-validated learning measurement standards, but Leonardo recognizes that one of the challenges of STEAM integration is that it may require new approaches to teaching and learning. We therefore welcome articles that are focused on the development and testing of novel approaches and methods for purveying and evaluating integrated learning. 

We intend to set the bar high. We are not interested in studies that rely on student self-reports about whether they found a particular lesson plan “exciting” or “fun” or teacher opinions that the students were “more engaged.” These effects may be real and they may be important, but the papers Leonardo is looking for demonstrate that these effects impact learning, preferably over the long term. Our goal is to make sure that as STEAM education takes hold within our educational establishments, it does so in the most effective and useful ways. 

Proposals and Inquiries Interested authors may submit manuscript proposals or inquiries to Leonardo.

Manuscript Submissions For detailed instructions for manuscript and art preparation, visit Information for Journal Authors.

To submit a completed manuscript, upload at Editorial Express.

Publications by the Section Editors

Tracie Costantino (2017): "STEAM by another name: Transdisciplinary practice in art and design education," Arts Education Policy Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2017.1292973

Root-Bernstein RS, Pathak A, Root-Bernstein MM. “A Review of Studies Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Integrating Arts, Music, Performing, Crafts and Design into Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical Education, Part 1: Summary of Evidence that Integration Is Professionally Useful and Effective.” Leonardo Just Accepted 2017: https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/LEON_a_01579

Root-Bernstein RS, Pathak A, Root-Bernstein MM. “Review of ACD-STEMM Integration, Part 2: Statistically-Validated and Controlled Pedagogical Studies of the Root-Bernsteins’ ‘Tools for Thinking.’” Leonardo Just Accepted 2017: https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/LEON_a_01580

Root-Bernstein RS, Pathak A, Root-Bernstein MM. “Review of ACD-STEMM Integration, Part 3: Statistically-Validated and Controlled Pedagogical Studies of Eleven ACD-Integration Strategies Utilized by STEMM Professionals and General Conclusions.” Leonardo Just Accepted 2017: https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/LEON_a_01581