From STEM to STEAM: Brain-Compatible Strategies and Lessons That Integrate the Arts

Art and science both hinge on discovery, and discovery requires thinking out of the box. But how do you lead students to think creatively in STEM education? The answer is STEAM, and A is for the arts.

STEAM―the integration of music, visual arts, and drama into daily STEM instruction―is proven to enhance student achievement in STEM subjects. After all, creative, real-world problem-solving is what working scientists and mathematicians actually do. But how do busy STEM educators weave arts activities into a sometimes inflexible STEM curriculum? 

In this new edition of From STEM to STEAM, the ground-breaking bestseller, the authors provide lessons from the field to detail the way. Authors David Sousa, expert in educational neuroscience, and Tom Pilecki, veteran arts educator, pool theircombined eighty years of expertise to deliver:

• Research studies in cognitive and social neuroscience, including new findings on how technology is rewiring students’ brains, that demonstrate how arts activities enhance creativity, problem solving, memory systems, motor coordination, and analytical skills―all critical elements to achieving STEM objectives. 
• Classroom-tested strategies and techniques for integrating the arts into STEM instruction, including sample K-12 lessons plans and planning templates.
• Tools for building a professional development program designed to helps arts and STEM teachers collaborate to create STEAM lessons. 
• Sample planning frameworks that provide a smooth transition from STEM to STEAM, including advice on adapting STEAM to meet the individual needs and limitations of a school or district.
• A list of resources available to teachers in the STEM subjects, in the arts, in arts integration, and for STEAM.

The main objective of both art and science is discovery. Lead your students to make that connection and STEAM ahead to academic success!

DR. David A. Sousa is an international consultant in educational neuroscience and author of more than twenty books that suggest ways educators and parents can translate current brain research into strategies for improving learning. A member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, he has conducted workshops in hundreds of school districts on brain research, instructional skills, and science education at the preK–12 and university levels. He has made presentations to more than two hundred thousand educators at national conventions of educational organizations and to regional and local school districts across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Dr. Sousa has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, a master of arts in teaching degree in science from Harvard University, and a doctorate from Rutgers University. His teaching experience covers all levels. He has taught senior high school science and served as a K–12 director of science, supervisor of instruction, and district superintendent in New Jersey schools. He was an adjunct professor of education at Seton Hall University for ten years and a visiting lecturer at Rutgers University.

Prior to his career in New Jersey, Dr. Sousa taught at the American School of Paris (France) and served for five years as a foreign service officer and science advisor at the US diplomatic missions in Geneva (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria).

Dr. Sousa has edited science books and published dozens of articles in leading journals on professional development, science education, and educational research. His most popular books for educators include How the Brain Learns, now in its sixth edition; How the Special Needs Brain Learns, second edition; How the Gifted Brain Learns; How the Brain Learns to Read, second edition; How the Brain Influences Behavior; How the ELL Brain Learns; Differentiation and the Brain, second edition (with Carol Tomlinson); and How the Brain Learns Mathematics, second edition, which was selected by the Independent Book Publishers Association as one of the best professional development books. The Leadership Brain suggests ways for educators to lead today’s schools more effectively. Dr. Sousa’s books have been published in French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Russian, and several other languages. His book Brainwork: The Neuroscience Behind How We Lead Others is written for business and organizational leaders.

Dr. Sousa is past president of the National Staff Development Council (now called Learning Forward). He has received numerous awards from professional associations, school districts, and educational foundations for his commitment to research, staff development, and science education. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award and an honorary doctorate from Bridgewater State University and an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Gratz College in Philadelphia.

Dr. Sousa has been interviewed on the NBC Today show, by other television programs, and by National Public Radio about his work with schools using brain research. He makes his home in south Florida.

Tom Pilecki, MA, is the former executive director of the Center for Creative Education (CCE) in West Palm Beach, Florida, where, for twelve years, he provided professional development to over one hundred teaching artists, preparing them to teach collaboratively with elementary and middle school teachers in all curriculum content areas. With an MA in educational administration, Tom is a former elementary school teacher as well as a choral and instrumental music teacher. His forty-plus years in education include being founder and principal of St. Augustine School of the Arts in the South Bronx, New York, the subject of the Sundance Film Festival Award-winning documentary Something Within Me as well as feature segments on 60 Minutes, World News Tonight, and The McNeil-Lehrer Report. His expertise in curriculum writing, implementation, and arts integration brought him to Chicago as curriculum director for six West Side schools before going to Florida. He continues to consult with schools and communities on a national basis.