This immersive learning project situated undergraduate students, specifically first year pre-service teachers, as designers and producers of elementary workshops for Burris Laboratory School’s science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) Enrichment Club, which is operated by the Center for Gifted Studies and Talent Development. The purpose of this project was two-fold: (1) to meet the needs of Burris’ STEAM Enrichment Club and (2) to offer real-world experience to both immersive learning students and elementary children who designed, planned, implemented, and managed STEAM related activities. With such a heavy emphasis on STEM related standards in our elementary schools, the STEAM Enrichment Club reminds students and teachers that through art we reconnect “the arts and sciences in ways that learning can happen at the intersection of the two” (Robelen, 2011). Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein (1999) found that many of the Nobel laureates in science were also artists. This immersive learning project introduced pre-service, first year students, who have majored in elementary education, to experiences that integrated digital technologies and new media across the elementary curriculum via the arts and sciences.
Faculty Mentor: Kate Shively
Department: Elementary Education
Community Partner: Burris Laboratory School
Students: Hannah Andrews, Christa Burns, Sydney Chaney, James Colter, Erin Coogan, Erin Fleece, Chloe Gaines, Taylor Hobson, Lauren Hoffman, Samatha Jazayeri, Bailie Lehman, Aubrey Meister, Alexis Methner, Giselle Monfreda, McKinley Purdy, Jessica Reis, Claire Riemersma, Abbie Rooker, Hannah Wintz, Christopher Wright
