A Musical Perspective on STEM: Evaluating the EcoSonic Playground Project from a Co equal STEAM Integration Standpoint
Year: 2020

Research on teaching and learning in integrated education has focused on connections IJEA Vol. 21 No. 14 http:/www.ijea.org/v21n14/ 2 between arts and non arts domains to provide a comprehensive experience for K 12 learners. Recently, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) education has explored arts integration for more effective STEM learning. However, effective integration is often elusive; the arts are sometimes diluted as a consequence of well intentioned integration within STEM subjects, with STEM learning risking similar superficial treatment within arts curricula. This qualitative pilot study focuses on The EcoSonic Playground Project (ESPP) an integrated STEAM project for students of all ages and evaluates its effectiveness from a co equal integration standpoint, where participants use skills across STEM and arts areas equally in service of a common, musical goal. Findings suggested that this project supported, the application of existing cognitive and social emotional skills and STEAM practices within an arts framework while fostering in participants the synthesis of new connections among skill areas. While recognizing findings are context specific, conclusions and recommendations may be of particular interest to educators and researchers exploring STEAM or other arts integration initiatives in the classroom.  Integrated or cross curricular learning has been a key principle of curriculum design, underpinning diverse educational philosophies for many years, dating back to Plato, Comenius and Rousseau (Barnes, 2011; Kerry, 2015; Pritchard, 2009; Rowley Cooper, 2009) Integration occurs whenever students and their teachers apply skills in more than one subject or discipline to a complex experience, problem, question or theme (Fogarty, 1991) Integrated learning transcends traditional subject divides and is viewed as being more effective in terms of breadth and depth of learning, transfer of skills and knowledge retention (Land, 2013; Lipson, Valencia, Wixson Peters 1993) STEAM education is a recent manifestation of cross curricular learning, integrating STEM subjects with the arts domains (e.g. DeSimone, 2014; Ghanbari, 2015; Land, 2013; Sousa Palecki, 2013, Greher Heines, 2014, etc. STEAM proponents contend that thinking through an arts perspective could enhance scientific problem solving, organization of ideas, cross disciplinary innovation, and creativity in the hard sciences (Catterall, 2013) However, effective integration is often elusive; the arts are sometimes diluted as a consequence of wellintentioned integration within STEM subjects, with STEM learning risking a similar superficial treatment within arts curricula (Davies, 2008; Mishook Kornhaber, 2006 cited in Brown, Doherty McLaughlin, 2007; Eisner, 2002; Wiggins, 2001) Educators must consider these potential problems when structuring integrated curricula to maintain effective learning in both STEM and arts domains. Johnson Green, Lee Flannery: A Musical Perspective on STEAM 3 This mixed method case study examines The EcoSonic Playground Project (ESPP) a creative and cross disciplinary project that asks students of all ages to design and build musical instruments from recycled materials. This study evaluates the ESPP's effectiveness in encouraging participants to draw on their prior experience, as well as apply and further develop STEAM, cognitive, and social emotional skills. While we discuss the results in the context of the ESPP, a music centered project, they should be of general interest to educators exploring STEAM or other arts integration initiatives in the classroom. Project Overview The EcoSonic Playground Project was developed at University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) in 2016, with the aim of advancing connections between the arts and STEM subjects. The ESPP asks students of all ages to build PVC structures as scaffolding frameworks with the aid of architectural plans. Next, student designed instruments made of recycled materials are attached to these structures in various ways. Each structure then becomes a multi player "sound sculpture" requiring two or more people to create music. While there have been other initiatives that engage students to design and build musical instruments using recycled materials, a unique feature of this project is an accompanying STEAM curriculum that guides the making process while allowing students to practice skills across cognitive, socialemotional, and STEAM domains. Since the Common Core Standards in the United States apply only to K 12 education and pertain only to English language arts and mathematics (NGACBP, 2010) we relied on standards suggested in The National Research Council's A Framework for K 12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) to provide an objective benchmark when developing our own STEAM curriculum. We also aligned our curriculum with UML's seven Essential Learning Outcomes (ELO's) that underlie the undergraduate core curriculum in all areas of study (University of Massachusetts Lowell, 2018) Future iterations of the ESPP will provide differentiated and developmentally appropriate "curriculum editions" aligned with the grade bands used by the NRC: grades K 2, 3 5, 6 8, and 9 12 (NRC, 2012, pp. 33 34) Lesson plans in these editions will reinforce STEAM practices typically learned at those grade levels. To show the adaptability of the ESPP curriculum and to test its effectiveness across grade levels including potential effectiveness at a post secondary level, we planned a series of pilot programs to cover a wide age range. The initial pilot iteration of the ESPP occurred at the university level where undergraduate students and faculty comprised the first working and playing groups. These groups completed the four main aspects of the program to ensure its viability: We collected and experimented with reusable materials, worked out structural and IJEA Vol. 21 No. 14 http:/www.ijea.org/v21n14/ 4 instrument designs, built two large scale structures, and then presented those structures to students in the university music department to play. Two overarching questions arose out of this beginning phase: what would happen when we worked through EcoSonic Playground Project with our students, and how might the EcoSonic Playground promote effective integration of STEAM practices, cognitive and social emotional skills at the university level? We examine this pilot study from a co equal arts and STEM integration perspective (discussed further in the next section) at the undergraduate level.  Integrated, Immersive, and Experiential Learning Integrated learning approaches have become synonymous with learner centered education (Barnes, 2011; Kerry, 2015; Rowley Cooper, 2009) Ongoing neuro scientific research further supports the effectiveness of connectivity in cross disciplinary learning and teaching (Barnes, 2011; Pritchard, 2009; Sousa Pilecki, 2013; Caine Caine, 1991) This in turn has informed our conception of The EcoSonic Playground Project, which is adaptable to diverse learning contexts and allows the opportunity to create an informal, intensive and immersive learning environment (Eshach, 2007; Folkestad, 2006; Jaffurs, 2006) Types and taxonomies of arts integration While some researchers have classified types and taxonomies of integration from a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective (Barnes, 2011; Fogarty, 1991) Bresler (1995) posits four common types of arts integration: subservient, affective, social and coequal integration. In subservient arts integration, the arts are mostly employed to provide curriculum content, pedagogy or structure. The arts are, in effect, subsumed by the other curriculum area(s) While arts communities are critical of this type of arts integration, this form is frequently enacted in schools (Barnes, 2015; Davies, 2008; Efland 2002 Goldberg, 2017) While appreciating that particular themes and topics will tend to be more relevant to a particular subject area, research indicates that the arts rarely tend to feature as the major subject area (Burnaford et al, 2007; Davies 2015 Efland, 2002) In other words, the arts tend to bookend rather than drive integrated learning. In affective arts integration, the potential of the arts to impact on the affective domain of learning in terms of evoking feelings, self expression and creativity is acknowledged and put to use in the curriculum. In social arts integration, the potentiality of the arts in terms of fostering communication and relationships within and between communities is encouraged. In co equal integration, both the art and non art domains contribute equally to learning. This non hierarchical type of cross curricular arrangement ensures the arts are not serving solely as a teaching methodology. Instead, all related planning, delivery, resourcing, assessment and evaluation address learning outcomes in the arts as much as in the other subjects entailed. Johnson Green, Lee Flannery: A Musical Perspective on STEAM 5 Other studies have outlined integration types from a quality arts provision perspective. This perspective refocuses integration taxonomy with the arts as the primary curricular concern. For example, Eisner (2002) presents the following four approaches to arts and STEM integration: 1. the arts are used to help students with a particular topic in another subject area; 2. arts specific integration is used to explore the similarities and differences between the various arts modes; 3. learning is oriented around a theme; or 4. learning is oriented around problem solving. Eisner's view of integration is that arts practices stimulate the imagination of the learner, a necessary ingredient for innovation in STEM areas (Eisner, 2003) Benefits of integration to effective learning There is a growing body of literature focused on music specifically as the "A" in STEAM (DeSimone, 2014; Salgian, Nakra, Ault, W