Abstract:

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education is a learning approach that provides students with innovative skills to cope with a rapidly evolving digital age and adapt to the demands of new societies (Leave et al., 2023). We will present the results of a study aimed to explore the impact of STEAM activities created around microcontroller technologies such as Arduino to improve key technological skills in high school students. A group of 47 students (aged 16 to 19, 16 females, 31 males) of 14 different schools in Aguascalientes (Mexico) were asked to complete a self-reported STEAM knowledge scale and STEAM competence test before and after participating in a 5-months-long Astrobotany simulation project. The objective of the project was to achieve crop growth through remote communication with a [simulated] Mars ground station via a pico-satellite; on-site sensor information, a video feed, and a tele-operated Cartesian robot were the tools available to the different teams to achieve this project. The project included an educational component for all students participating with introductions to tools, how to program microcontrollers, and radio communication. The students self-reported significantly higher knowledge of basic electronic, laboratory tools and graphic design tools after participating in the program than before. In addition, they significantly improved their competences in robotics and communication skills but not in electronic ones, which suggested that the Astrobotany program should be enhanced with further activities in the field of electronics (e.g. C programming for microcontrollers) in future implementations of the program. We will discuss the role of gender on STEAM learning and how to improve the evaluation of the “art” (A) competence in STEAM programs.

Keywords:

STEAM curriculum, Arduino, Self-reported knowledge, computational thinking, Astrobotany, empirical testing.