Purpose: Research demonstrates that student participation in activities such as art and storytelling can facilitate brain and language development, and academic learning in STEM topics. Research also demonstrates that students who are highly engaged in the arts are more than twice as likely to graduate college as their peers with no arts education. Yet studies show that public-school teachers believe the arts are getting crowded out of the school day and schools in higher poverty areas are less likely to have access to the arts. This project team will develop a prototype of a digital and hands-on STEM intervention to engage elementary students in learning about how the world functions through an art-based approach.

Project Activities: The project team will develop a prototype in Phase I that will include a hard copy illustrated storybook with drawing guide, and an app for students to scan their drawings, catalog them in a digital encyclopedia, and see the drawings in an animated environment. At the end of Phase I, in a pilot study with 20 grade school students and 4 educators, researchers will examine if the prototype functions as intended and if educators believe the prototype can be successfully integrated within a STEM lesson on how water works. Additionally, the project team will examine  if students are engaged in the arts-based approach and learn content related to the prototype in a pre- to post- assessment of knowledge related to how water works.

Company Website: http://chromosphere-la.com