We are conducting longitudinal case studies on a group of focal youth in the program, primarily relying on multiple rounds of semi-structured interviews with the youth and observational field notes from program sessions. We are particularly interested in learning about the experiences of youth who report that they are very curious and creative, but yet do not express a connection with science when they enter the program. 

Hi, Robert. Thanks for asking this question. Integrating arts and science in meaningful ways has been a challenge with which we’ve wrestled over the past couple of years (and we continue to do so). Our approach has evolved substantially since we first started this project. Initially, we took an interdisciplinary approach by foregrounding the disciplines of art and science. We had separate sessions in which students would investigate an environmental justice issue (e.g., investigating water quality and access by performing water quality tests on local river water, generating water filters) and then make meaning of the science learning activities through performing arts activities (e.g., role-play, generating poetry). We later realized that this approach created somewhat of a divide between art and science, so we changed our tactic beginning in the summer of 2019. We now embrace a transdisciplinary approach by foregrounding youths’ stories about social and environmental justice issues of their choosing, rather than the disciplines of art and science. Youth engage in performing arts, engineering, and science to design and produce their stories. For example, a group of students created a play about the local effects of climate change and produced their play by engaging in the following: coding LED lights for costumes, designing and constructing costumes, writing a script, and directing actors (their instructors and mentors) to act out their play. Another group of students we are currently working with is planning to create an interactive art experience to raise awareness about voting rights and suppression. In this multimedia project, they’ll engage in 3-D printing, engineering, designing projections, and coding lights and music.

I'll tackle the recruitment and let Megan tackle the other part.  Though, to the 2nd part, if we can perfectly figure that out then viola as every learning environment often sees such tensions. 

In terms of recruitment, we have a partner schools and recruit from those.  The youth that are participating here are part of a larger program that is focused on supporting youth to get into college or other post-secondary institution and to graduate from that.  The youth are not necessarily interested in science nor are they particularly interested in the arts, in fact this cohort came to use with stronger interest in science than the the arts.  We suspect that they have so little art programming in their respective schools as many of them had never seen a play in a theater and so forth.  So at times it was necessary to take a step back and help students to see the practices, rigor, and creativity that goes into an artistic production.

Hi Stacey. Regarding your second question about balancing student agency and curricular structure, we are still wrestling with this tension. One thing we have noticed is that students are more likely to choose presentation platforms (e.g., short film, animation) and roles/processes (e.g., coding LED lights, fashion design, filming) with which they are comfortable, which is not surprising. To support students in trying out new endeavors and going beyond their comfort zones, we have structured the program sessions to include introductory/exploratory time for all students to share common experiences with learning activities in which they may have limited experience, such as 3D printing, coding LED lights, creative writing, and role-play games. This introductory/exploratory time has been helpful in supporting students to choose new (and still somewhat unfamiliar) roles and processes in their culminating group projects. We'd also love to hear how you've addressed this tension in your work in library makerspaces.

I think it's wonderful to support students in trying out new endeavors and going beyond their comfort zones. I feel often students don't even know their areas of interest or strengths until they have tried a buffet of options.  What is the tension you are finding between balancing student agency and curricular structure? Any suggestions you have for others trying this approach? 

Thanks, DeLene! I would say the two greatest challenges have been finding ways to meaningfully and holistically integrate performing arts and STEM (see earlier discussion thread with Robert) and generating a productive combination of agency (student choice) and curricular structure (see earlier discussion thread with Stacey). Mike also eluded to another challenge in his earlier comment, namely that most of the participating youth in our program have had little experience with performing arts, with some only associating it with staged theater. We define performing arts as an artistic mode that tells a story, so having this broad conception supports youth in finding a performing arts avenue that they are specifically interested in (e.g., short film, animation, music).

Thanks, Holly! We meet with students outside of school for approximately 2.5 hours on ~13 Saturdays during the school year (October - May) in addition to a three-week summer session (60 hours total). We have found that the summer session is probably more beneficial for youth given that they are able to engage in STEAM learning activities more deeply due to the longer sessions and day-to-day consistency.

Thanks, Megan! We have run programs where we conduct week-long summer intensives with students and find them to be more beneficial as the students can find time to focus and have that day-to-day consistency you mention. Your 3-week summer session, are those weeks back to back to back? Is it a daily program, or are students houses somewhere locally for the duration of the 3 weeks?  Again, great work!

Yep, there is something to be said for immersive experiences.  The summer is back to back weeks  as all the students are recruited from local area schools.  Though we do provide a bus for youth as the public transportation to campus is rather dicey.  We have thought of moving off campus but there is also an important aspect of getting youth on a college campus and experiencing that.

I agree completely, Mike, that getting the students on college campus is something special that they all really appreciate.  Do you bus them back and forth each day, or do you have housing as well (I know setting up campus housing can be equally tricky sometimes).  Thanks!

Yes, we providing bussing each day. It would be interesting to explore the possibility of setting up on-campus housing for an even more immersive college experience during those three weeks, but as you said this can be a little tricky :)

Thanks, Deborah! Many of the youth come into our program with siloed views of art and science. One of our main goals is to support youth in deconstructing this compartmentalization by engaging in and reflecting on the common practices of performing arts and STE disciplines (empathizing, collaborating, exercising curiosity, etc.), so that they may recognize that art practices are relevant and vital in science and vice versa. In particular, many students initially associated the practices of imagining and creating with performing arts and disregarded the importance of these practices in STE disciplines. One of the most interesting preliminary findings from our study is that engaging in art-science projects has supported youth in recognizing the importance of imagining and creating in science disciplines. For example, one youth initially described imagining as unimportant in science, stating, “[Y]ou don’t imagine in science, you do in science.” After participating in Converge for a year, she indicated that imagining and creating were important in science “[b]ecause when you're trying to make stuff in science, it's okay that you add your touch.” Many youth echoed similar statements in interviews. Through their experiences in a transdisciplinary art-science space, it seems that youth are recognizing that they can express themselves and add their “touch” when engaging in science disciplines, which, in turn, may promote their disciplinary identification.

Thanks, Christopher. (And I’m sorry for the delay in responding to your comment, somehow I missed it!) I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment about diversity, in its many different facets, supporting success. That is also a message that we aim to foster and embody in our work with youth similar to what you do in your project.

It would be really interesting to keep up with our students through college and even their professional lives to understand the influence of their participation. We are especially interested in identity construction, which requires long-term research. For now, we are planning to study focal youths’ experiences over two years but again, it would be great to extend this timeframe.

We mainly focus on performing arts, defined broadly as an art form that tells a story (video/audio narratives, animation, short film, skits, dance, etc.). We have a few students who have expressed interest in visual arts as well. So this year, we invited a visual arts educator to join our team. (Our teacher team currently includes a performing arts/dance educator, a visual arts teacher, and a STEAM teacher.)

Thank you, Michael! Beautifully said. Your project on embodied learning in geometry also sounds fascinating. Embodiment is such an underutilized form of learning.