Art+Science: Broadening Youth Participation in STEM Learning

Art and science represent two powerful human ways of investigating and understanding the natural and social world. Both are creative processes involving acts of observation, interpretation, meaning-making, and the communication of new insights. While standards of evidence may vary between the two fields, there are also many common practices. Many artists, for example, employ a range of computational, digital and engineering practices. Many scientists are guided in part by aesthetic considerations in the formulation of questions, theories, and models. In this report we share the results of a cross-disciplinary, collaborative inquiry into how programs that integrate art and science do, or might, enrich and broaden the participation of young people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning.