Reflect + Draw Conclusions
At the conclusion of a CAPE project, the teacher, artist, and
students reflect on the answers- or lack of answers- to their initial
inquiry question and then develop new themes and questions for
future work. Reflecting on and drawing conclusions about an
artistic or scientific investigation is important in helping students
synthesize the information generated throughout a project and
deciding new directions of inquiry.
Recommendations for STEAM Implementation
CAPE teachers and artists work together over multiple years,
which allows them more time and space to collaborate, explore,
and develop the big picture of the artistic process they follow with
their students: questions lead to experimentation,
experimentation generates data, data is a tool for analysis and
planning requires commitment of time, resources, and energy at
assessment, and reflection on the process as a whole inspires all
all levels of the school community, but is entirely possible to
new questions to explore in the future. Sound familiar? The
implement, even without the support of community partners like
artistic process and the scientific method are ongoing: each
CAPE. A good place to start is with your school’s resident art or
conclusion is the starting point for a new investigation.
music teacher. In this era of budget shortfalls, many schools lack
full-time arts educators, but even collaborations between nonarts teachers who are motivated to experiment with STEAM
Where students typically change classrooms and teachers each
practices can catalyze school-wide change by facilitating
year, it is vital that innovative STEAM projects connect curricula
discussions, planning, and professional development for
across grade levels and to consciously support the kind of growth
colleagues from different grade levels. Collaborating in these
and curiosity that such projects cultivate. Multi-year, cross-grade
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