Special session: Raising P-20 engineers — Nurturing creativity and curiosity by getting STEAMd

The primary goal of this special session is to engage participants in a dialogue regarding two skills critical to the personal and professional development of engineers, creativity and curiosity, and discuss and practice pedagogies for nurturing them in students through STEAM (STEM + art) activities. The emerging STEAM approach emphasizes a hands-on, project-based, interdisciplinary approach to the study of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). To emphasize the importance of using engineering design principles to integrate learning in science and math and gain technological literacy, we also refer to this approach as STEAMd. By the end of the workshop, participants will be introduced to key concepts in the engineering design process, the STEAMd initiative, and Dweck´s groundbreaking work on “mindsets” be able to identify methods for integrating engineering design and art activities into STEM studies; and gain experience in using STEAMd activities to promote the development of creativity and curiosity while strengthening critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This special session will be of interest to those involved in P-20 engineering education and in developing a philosophy of engineering education that stresses the development and maintenance of non-traditional skills that are nonetheless critical to the processes of innovation and invention.