Keywords

1 Introduction

Science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) literacy emphasizes students’ STEAM reading and writing ability and the integration of students’ knowledge to solve practical problems [1]. STEAM education originated from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. STEM combines diverse subjects into integrated courses and emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of students’ learning process. The STEM education policy was initiated in the 1990s in the United States and subsequently implemented by three presidents of the United States. They promulgated relevant education policies and regulations and passed the STEM Act in the United States Congress to improve STEM literacy in the United States. In recent years, advocates of the STEM-to-STEAM movement have caused a worldwide shift toward STEAM education [2]. STEAM education is a teaching model that emphasizes an interdisciplinary curriculum comprising science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. STEAM curriculum design is guided by five components, namely cross-domain topic research, hands-on learning, life applications for stimulating students’ curiosity, solving of real-life problems, and application of five senses in learning [3]. STEAM literacy emphasizes the development of literacy skills and cultivation of integrated knowledge among students. Through a STEAM education, students learn to adapt and continue developing their ability to solve practical problems [1]. Such an education also helps students to apply interdisciplinary concepts to solve real-world problems.

In response to globalization and international trends, Taiwan must improve the English proficiency and competitiveness of its people. To this end, Taiwan has developed a blueprint for becoming a bilingual country by 2030 [4]. Taiwan’s Ministry of Education uses content and language integrated learning (CLIL) as its main teaching axis and actively promotes the teaching of English in small and medium learning areas [5]. CLIL is a teaching method that combines subject content with foreign language learning. In CLIL, subjects such as mathematics, natural science, and social science are taught in a foreign language to achieve the dual learning objectives of learning a language and domain knowledge by means of learning integration [6]. The cultivation of students’ ability to use foreign languages to acquire new knowledge and communicate is a key aspect of CLIL. Currently, the CLIL pilot program in Taiwan is primarily implemented in elementary schools, particularly in the lower grades. Experimental courses mainly involve the fields of life curriculum, integrative activities, health and physical education, and the arts [5]. The goal is to allow students to familiarize themselves with a bilingual environment [7]. CLIL teaching is not equivalent to English teaching. For each subject, teachers can plan the ratio of Chinese language to English language instruction to suit their attributes and goals [5]. The development of a CLIL model suitable for the teaching environment in Taiwan is a topic that warrants discussion.

In the present study, an ICIL teaching model suitable for application in STEAM natural science courses in Taiwan was developed. The related curriculum uses the “plants in our daily life” theme to integrate natural science, English, integrative activities, mathematics, and art; it also encourages students to apply their imagination and curiosity to understand and describe phenomena in the natural environment. This curriculum design is a dual-objective learning model that incorporates subject content and language and uses the natural science component of STEAM education as its main curriculum design axis.

2 STEAM–CLIL Natural Science Curriculum

The STEAM–CLIL natural science curriculum proposed in the present study uses images of specific plants and plant landscapes (Table 1).

Table 1. STEAM–CLIL natural science curriculum
Full size table

The author of the present study has applied the aforementioned teaching plan in a small community of natural science teachers who engage in practical teaching using English. The author used simple and easily understood English sentences during the demonstration process. Teachers can flexibly adjust their lesson plans to suit their English ability and teaching goals.

3 Practical Implications

The present study uses a specific teaching plan to describe a STEAM–CLIL natural science curriculum. The proposal of this teaching model is expected to aid the development of a feasible plan for promoting the STEAM bilingual education policy in the natural science domain. It can be extended to other learning areas and used as a reference for research and development programs in other learning areas.