Student Life

STEAM EDUCATION

915 students across grades 3-9/11 are developing 21^st century skills of problem solving and innovation at OOL.

STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue and critical thinking.

In practice, STEAM is defined as arts integration, an approach to teaching and learning through which content standards are taught and assessed equitably in and through the arts. It’s the intentional weaving of academic study – typically math, science, social studies, and English and language arts – with arts disciplines.

OOL’s first STEAM initiative – “Designing the Future” inspired by problem-based learning was introduced to the students in November 2020 and with guidance of their class teachers and STEAM leads and co-leads, they worked enthusiastically to select real world problems for which they could create original solutions. Milestones had been provided to offer a pathway for students to collect data, analyze and explore possible solutions and reach final presentations. Students have been trained in academic honesty, collaboration, presentation skills and technological tools to assist them in this endeavor. The STEAM groups met twice a week after school hours on the MS Teams platform to deliberate under their class teacher’s supervision. They conducted surveys, interviews, reached possible solutions and finally created prototypes of their solutions. After completion of the prototypes, exchanging ideas and feedback, and improving their solutions, the STEAM initiative, phase-1 saw its conclusion in February and March of 2021. OOL looks forward to making this an annual event.