This study aims to explore how a learning sequence designed with an Integrated STEAM Education perspective (iSTEAM) contributes to students’ levels of creativity. The participants in this study were students from 9th and 10th grade with ages between 14 and 16 years old. Students were challenged to produce a soundtrack for an animation video. This was achieved by building artifacts and using the phenomena of physics under study (mechanical energy) to produce sound effects. These were later digitally recorded and assembled to build the video’s soundtrack. This research work contributes to addressing the importance of STEAM education integration and of digital competence in developing students’ creativity in problem solving.

Purpose: This research aims to examine the pre-service teachers’ learning when using STEM tasks with middle school students in a lesson study.Design/methodology/approach: This research adopted a qualitative methodology with an interpretative orientation. The participants are three pre-service teachers involved in a lesson study that took place in a curricular unit of a master’s program in physics and chemistry teaching. Data were collected through observation and written reflections.Findings: This lesson study, conducted as part of initial teacher training, allowed pre-service teachers to deepen their understanding regarding students’ difficulties when engaged in a STEM task involving prototype construction. It also enabled them to learn about the engineering design process and the integration of the four STEM areas. Reflecting with peers and educators on the research lesson, taught by the cooperating teacher, and on the results allowed them to develop knowledge about the use of STEM tasks.Originality/value: This research highlighted the importance of introducing STEM education in the initial teacher training. Specifically, this research contributed to the scarce studies on lesson studies with pre-service teachers that focus specifically on the use of STEM tasks.

This study explores how students’ creativity emerges from their engagement in the Design Thinking (DT) process as part of an I-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning sequence. A group of thirty twelfth-grade students (aged 16–18) from a secondary school participated in the study, collaborating to design and construct a prototype for monitoring indoor air quality. Data collection included observations, student prototypes, written records, photographs, and video recordings, which were analyzed to map students’ progression through the DT process and to assess the emergence of Cognitive (Divergent and Convergent Thinking) and Functional (Relevance and Effectiveness, Novelty, Elegance, Resilience) creativity. The findings demonstratedthat students engaged with the DT process in a dynamic and iterative manner, frequently revisiting previous phases to refine their ideas and improve their prototypes. Divergent thinking was most evident during brainstorming, while convergent thinking emerged during design evaluation and improvement. Functional creativity was particularly visible during the construction and evaluation phases, with teams producing solutions that demonstrated novelty, usefulness, and adaptation to context and challenges. The complexity of a team’s iterative process was a strong predictor of their creative success, with non-linear pathways leading to greater resilience and more innovative solutions. Overall, this study contributes to understanding the dynamic interplay between the iterative DT process and the development of cognitive and functional creativity in I-STEM education, offering practical implications for educators seeking to enhance students’ problem-solving skills and creative potential.