Assessment framework for students' STEAM performance: Teachers’ interviews and classroom observations in Taiwan

Abstract

Despite the potential of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education, teachers lack a framework for evaluating students' performance in an integrated learning context. This study explores seminal theoretical works and STEAM teachers' practices to develop an assessment framework, and validated it using interviews and classroom observations. It comprises two approaches: assessing each discipline's critical competency and tracking problem-solving phases. Most teachers assessed students' critical competencies in each discipline, although few tracked students' problem-solving phases. Both approaches were effectively validated for tracking student learning throughout the STEAM courses using various methods. The study presents implications for educators and policymakers.