Abstract

This paper describes an approach to STEAM education in which art is viewed as a unique discipline with distinct ways of thinking. The researchers developed and evaluated a STEAM education program to explore how art and science work together to expand and accelerate inventive thinking among Native American middle school students who participated in American Indian Services (AIS) Pre-Freshman Engineering Program (PREP). An important context of this project was the unique local environment and culture that included Diné (din-eh) culture in Gallup, NM. We hypothesize that integrating culturally responsive transdisciplinary art into an existing STEM summer program will increase students' engagement; deepen their understanding of science; and broaden their awareness of and experience with diverse methods of inquiry, personal exploration, and knowledge construction. We assumed that art thinking can enhance students' sense of autonomy and competence. Our research questions were. 1) How does a culturally responsive, art-integrated STEAM curriculum influence student thinking, artmaking, learning, and understanding of connections between art and science? And 2) what is culturally responsive pedagogy for Indigenous students in Gallup, New Mexico? The research contributes to developing and evaluating out-of-school-time STEAM learning opportunities, adds to the knowledge of how to connect culture to STEM education through arts integration, and contributes to improved educational outcomes through art and design integration in rural Indigenous communities

Degree

MA

College and Department

Fine Arts and Communications; Art

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2025-07-30

Document Type

Thesis

Keywords

STEAM education, art integration, transdisciplinary learning, Indigenous research methodology, Hózho, Indigenous education, culturally responsive pedagogy

Language

english

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Fine Arts Commons

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