STEM vs. STEAM

[epylko]

I, as a carnivore, think we should call it MEATS.

All kidding aside, I really agree with Andrew's comment from earlier in the thread:

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

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What I'm trying to say is that art is, for the most part, intrinsically linked to engineering. They are two sides of the same coin. And instead of fighting over a stupid acronym we should be figuring out how we can use art to explain concepts in engineering rather than just the other way around.
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My son, when he was in 8th or 9th grade, submitted a C program to the school literary magazine because he felt programming was an art. I agree with him. The advisor called him down to his classroom to have a chat. Benjamin made his case. It's a creative outlet for him. If the magazine is about creativity, his program should be there too. The advisor agreed. His program was in the literary magazine.

I just did a "define:art" in google. It says:

"the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."

Building and designing robots is exactly the expression and application of human creative skill. But FIRST is not just building and operating robots. It's a business so you have accounting, sales, marketing, writing, competing interests, drawing, painting, project management, team building, personality conflicts, and more that is not directly related to STE or M. I could easily classify/justify all of those functions as an "Art" and that's why A should be included.

To me, FIRST Robotics is a perfect fit for STEAM. I don't think anybody is suggesting that all the art programs in school get moved to the technology department, or vice versa. The addition of A is just recognition that art is an important part of FIRST Robotics. It's not "Art is important" but "Art is important too".

I will close with this thought. Changing to STEM to STEAM will bring in more students and it will create diversity within FIRST Robotics teams. Who wouldn't want that? Diversity is power. Different people with different backgrounds and interest generate different points of view. If our team could get more business students and more art students, I think we would be a better team.

When I saw the title for this thread, I thought almost everyone would support this change. I'm surprised by the pushback that I see. I need to think more about the opposing viewpoints to try and understand them better. The 10 minutes reading the thread hasn't done it yet

Cheers!

-Eric