STEM education has become a hot topic of educational reform in countries all over the world.
STEAM, on the other hand, has joined the art field on the basis of STEM, emphasizing the importance of art and design. STEAM education believes that art can stimulate students' creativity and imagination, so that students can get more comprehensive development. At the same time, art and technology are closely related, because in practice, many art projects need technical support.
Therefore, the essential difference between STEM and STEAM lies in whether it includes the art field. STEM emphasizes the comprehensive application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. On this basis, STEAM strengthens the importance of the art field in order to better cultivate students' innovative spirit and practical ability.
Although STEM and STEAM have different goals in the field of education, they both emphasize practice and innovation. This also reflects the trend of educational reform, that is, to break the division between disciplines and look at problems from a comprehensive perspective. The implementation of STEM and STEAM education is conducive to improving students' comprehensive quality and enabling them to have better future development and problem-solving ability.