STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is an educational approach that is now accompanied by the STEAM (STEM + Arts) variant. Both educational approaches seek to renew the scientific literacy of younger generations, and, with the inclusion of the arts, student creativity is described as a key skill that must receive special attention. A review is therefore presented here of empirical STEM and STEAM-based educational interventions so as to determine their potential to develop student creativity. A systematic search of papers over one decade, 2010–2020, found 14 didactic interventions on the Web of Science and Scopus databases for analysis within the review process. The analysis suggested that: (1) the interventions based both on STEM and STEAM have multiple and even contradictory forms, both in theory and in practice; (2) there appears to be a preference among researchers for the Likert-type test to evaluate creativity; and (3) both educational approaches show evidence of positive effects on student creativity. In the light of the principal findings, it was concluded that arguing for the implementation of STEAM education over STEM education, with a view to developing or promoting student creativity, is not in agreement with the evidence from the empirical studies.

The emergence of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in research and the practice of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education is today an unquestionable fact at international level. Despite the importance attached to STEM education, there is a lack of synthesized approaches to teaching the interdisciplinarity of STEM. This lack of synthesis can hinder a strong theoretical foundation for STEM education and possible new contributions. The purpose of this position paper is to contribute a theoretical framework for STEM education that enables the unification of criteria regarding disciplinary integration and associated teaching methods. The authors discuss disciplinary integration in STEM activities, the implication of STEM literacy, educational stage, and teaching method, and provide suggestions for future research.

El presente trabajo trata de dilucidar las posibles relaciones entre dos movimientos educativos de indudable relevancia en la Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales a lo largo de las últimas décadas, uno de ellos más pionero, conocido como Ciencia-Tecnología-Sociedad (CTS) y otro más reciente, Ciencia-Tecnología-Ingeniería-Matemáticas (STEM). Para ello partimos de una concreción de sus orígenes, objetivos, características, líneas de trabajo y propuestas didácticas en cada uno de ellos. A continuación, nuevamente apoyados en una revisión bibliográfica, establecemos las comparaciones entre ambos a partir de los apartados referidos anteriormente. Tal comparación nos lleva a poner en cuestión la vinculación entre ambos y la originalidad de la propuesta STEM, junto con las dificultades que su implementación conlleva.

This review study aims to: (1) provide an overview of development of the educational research about the use of field trips as a teaching resource in Didactics of Experimental Sciences; and (2) synthesize the main educational implications referred to it. Thus, the articles published between 2000-2017 and hosted in Web of Science and Scopus databases were reviewed. The results approved around the fields: (1) author/s and year; (2) country; (3) scientific discipline; (4) educational stage; (5) context; (6) methodology; and (7) educational implications. The main results point to irruption of the scientific production on this line of investigation, in spite of not abounding prolific authors in her. In addition, we have proven that United States is the country where the greatest numbers of jobs have been carried out, while the preferential educational stage to carry out field trips is Primary Education. The natural spaces are placed as the most visited context and the Environment, Biology and Geology as the preferred disciplines for field trips. Finally, the main educational implications point to the promotion of positive attitudes and emotions, as well as the acquisition of contents as strengths of field trips.