Volume 18 · Number 2 ·
Pages 295–307
Catching the Big Fish: A 4E-Cognition Approach to Creativity in STEAM Education
Ronnie Videla, Tomas Veloz & María Carolina Pino
Log in to download the full text for free
Abstract
Context: The 4E approach proposes an alternative framework to understanding cognition and learning. However, its application to the study of creativity from new educational approaches such as STEAM is incipient. Problem: How can the 4E approach that fosters creativity be implemented in STEAM education, through participation in technology-mediated learning ecosystems? Method: Through face-to-face ethnographic participant observation, we observe students engaging in creative activities suggested by our theoretical approach. We use these observations to illustrate our theoretical approach. Results: Our examples show the many possibilities to encourage creativity by participating in STEAM educational environments that promote design and prototyping with technologies. We highlight collaborative work, disciplinary integration and learning by doing, characteristics of the STEAM approach, which favor the implementation of the 4E approach. Implications: The STEAM approach encourages creativity and learning that gives primacy to training processes over final products, so it is consistent with the 4E approach. Constructivist content: We adhere to the 4E approach to cognition: embodied, enacted, embedded and extended.
Key words: 21st century skills, 4E approach, creativity, STEAM education.
Citation
Videla R., Veloz T. & Pino M. C. (2023) Catching the big fish: A 4e-cognition approach to creativity in steam education. Constructivist Foundations 18(2): 295–307. https://constructivist.info/18/2/295
Export article citation data: Plain Text · BibTex · EndNote · Reference Manager (RIS)
Similar articles
References
Abrahamson D. & Sánchez-García R. (2016) Learning is moving in new ways: The ecological dynamics of mathematics education. Journal of the Learning Sciences 25(2): 203–239. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Aguilera D. & Ortiz-Revilla J. (2021) STEM vs. STEAM education and student creativity: A Systematic Literature Review. Education Sciences 11(7): 331. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11070331
Amabile T. M. (1996) Creativity in context. Westview Press, Boulder CO. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Baber C., Chemero A. & Hall J. (2019) What the jeweller’s hand tells the jeweller’s brain: Tool use, creativity and embodied cognition. Philosophy & Technology 32(2): 283–302. https://cepa.info/8121
Bateson G. (1972) Steps to an ecology of mind: Collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry, evolution, and epistemology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Brown T. (2009) Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. HarperCollins, New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Brühlmeier A. (2010) Head, heart and hand: Education in the spirit of Pestalozzi. Sophia Books, Cambridge. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Bruineberg J. & Rietveld E. (2014) Self-organization, free energy minimization, and optimal grip on a field of affordances. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8: 599. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00599
Bruner J. (1962) On knowing: Essays for the left hand. Belknap Press, Cambridge. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Clark A. & Chalmers D. J. (1998) The extended mind. Analysis 58: 7–19. https://cepa.info/4959
Csikszentmihalyi M. (1988) The flow experience and its significance for human psychology. In: Csikszentmihalyi M. & Csikszentmihalyi I. S. (eds.) Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 15–35. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Dafermos M. (2018) Developing creativity in science: The case of Vygotsky. In: Rethinking cultural-historical theory: A dialectical perspective to Vygotsky. Springer, Singapore: 215–242. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Dewey J. (1934) Art as experience. Capricorn Books, New York NY. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Dewey J. (1944) Democracy and education. The Free Press, New York. Originally published 1916. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Dewey J. (1976) The school and society. In: Boydston J. A. (ed.), John Dewey: The middle works: Volume 1. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale IL: 1–96. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Dewey J. (2005) How we think. Barnes & Noble, New York. Originally published in 1910. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Di Paolo E., Buhrmann T. & Barandiaran X. E. (2017) Sensorimotor life: An enactive proposal. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Reviewed in. https://constructivist.info/13/3/395
Dreyfus H. (2002) Intelligence without representations – Merleau-Ponty’s critique of mental representation: The relevance of phenomenology to scientific explanation. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 1(4): 367–383. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Frey C. & Osborne M. (2017) The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization? Technological Forecasting and Social Change 114: 254–280. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Frith E., Miller S. & Loprinzi P. D. (2020) A review of experimental research on embodied creativity: Revisiting the mind–body connection. The Journal of Creative Behavior 54(4): 767–798. https://cepa.info/8122
Fröbel F. (2005) The education of man. Translated by W. N. Hailmann. Dover Publications, Mineola NY. German original published in 1826. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Froese T. & Di Paolo E. (2011) The enactive approach: Theoretical sketches from cell to society. Pragmatics and Cognition 19(1): 1–36. https://cepa.info/2367
Gallagher S. (2017) Enactivist interventions: Rethinking the mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Reviewed in. https://constructivist.info/14/1/118
Gardner H. (1994) The creators’ patterns. In: Boden M. (ed.) Dimensions of creativity. MIT Press/Badford Books, London: 143–158. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Gibson J. J. (1979) The ecological approach to visual perception. Classic edition. Psychology Press, New York NY. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Glasersfeld E. von (1988) The reluctance to change a way of thinking. Irish Journal of Psychology 9(1): 83–90. https://cepa.info/1401
Glasersfeld E. von (1995) Radical constructivism. Falmer Press, London. https://cepa.info/1462
Glăveanu V. P. & Beghetto R. A. (2017) The difference that makes a “creative” difference in education. In: Beghetto R. & Sriraman B. (eds.) Creative contradictions in education: Creativity theory and action in education. Springer, Cham: 37–54. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Glăveanu V. P. (2012) What can be done with an egg? Creativity, material objects, and the theory of affordances. The Journal of Creative Behavior 46: 192–208. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Glăveanu V. P. (2014) Distributed creativity: What is it? In: Distributed creativity: Thinking outside the box of the creative individual. Springer, Berlin: 1–13. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Glăveanu V. P. (2014) Thinking through creativity and culture: Toward an integrated model. Routledge, Milton Park. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Glenberg A. (2008) Embodiment for education. In: Calvo P. & Gomila A. (eds.) Handbook of cognitive science: An embodied approach. Elsevier, Dan Diego CA: 355–354. https://cepa.info/8123
Guilford J. P. (1967) The nature of human intelligence. McGraw-Hill, New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Haugeland J. (1998) Mind embodied and embedded. In: Haugeland J. (ed.) Having thought: Essays in the metaphysics of mind. Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 207–237. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Heft H. (2013) Environment, cognition, and culture: Reconsidering the cognitive map. Journal of Environmental Psychology 33: 14–25. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Herro D., Quigley C., Plank H., Abimbade O. & Owens A. (2022) Instructional practices promoting computational thinking in STEAM elementary classrooms. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education 38(4): 158–172. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Hutchins E. (1995) Cognition in the wild. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Hutchins E. (2010) Cognitive ecology. Topics in Cognitive Science 2: 705–715. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Hutto D. D. & Myin E. (2013) Radicalizing enactivism: Basic minds without content. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. Reviewed in. https://constructivist.info/8/3/362
Hutto D. D., Kirchhoff M. D. & Abrahamson D. (2015) The enactive roots of STEM: Rethinking educational design in mathematics. Educational Psychology Review 27(3): 371–389. https://cepa.info/5075
Ihde D. & Malafouris L. (2019) Homo faber Revisited: Postphenomenology and material engagement theory. Philosophy & Technology 32(2): 195–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-018-0321-7
Ingold T. (2010) The textility of making. Cambridge Journal of Economics 34(1): 91–102. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Ingold T. (2013) Making: Anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture. Routledge, London. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Ingold T. (2014) The creativity of undergoing. Pragmatics & Cognition 22: 124–139. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Jacobson M. K. & Wilensky U. (2022) Complex systems and the learning sciences: Educational, theoretical, and methodological implications. In: Sawyer R. (ed.) The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. Third edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 504–522. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Jia Y., Zhou B. & Zheng X. (2021) A curriculum integrating STEAM and maker education promotes pupils’ learning motivation, self-efficacy, and interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition. Frontiers in Psychology 12: 725525. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.725525
Johnson M. (1987) The body in the mind: The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Kalaydjian J., Laroche J. Noy L. & Bachrach A. (2022) A distributed model of collective creativity in free play. Frontiers in Education 7: 902251. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.902251
Kaufman J. C. & Baer J. (eds.) (2005) Creativity across domains: Faces of the muse. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah NJ. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Kaufman J. C. & Beghetto R. A. (2009) Beyond big and little: The Four C Model of creativity. Review of General Psychology 13: 1–12. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Kaufman J. C. & Sternberg R. J. (2019) An introduction to creativity. In: Kaufman J. C. & Sternberg R. J. (eds.) The Cambridge handbook of creativity. Second edition Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 5–104. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Kelly G. J. & Cunningham C. M. (2019) Epistemic tools in engineering design for K‐12 education. Science Education 103(4): 1080–1111. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Kelso J. A. S. (1992) Coordination dynamics of human brain and behavior. In: Friedrich R. & Wunderlin A. (eds.) Evolution of dynamical structures in complex systems. Springer, Berlin: 223–234. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Kilpatrick W. (1918) The Project Method: The use of the purposeful act in the educative process. Teachers college, Columbia University. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Kupers E., Lehmann-Wermser A., McPherson G. & van Geert P. (2019) Children’s creativity: A theoretical framework and systematic review. Review of Educational Research 89(1): 93–124. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Lakoff G. & Johnson M. (1999) Philosophy in the flesh: The embodied mind and its challenge to Western thought. Basic Books, New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Lakoff G. & Núñez R. E. (2000) Where mathematics comes from: How the embodied mind brings mathematics into being. Basic Books, New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Liu C. Y., Wu C. J., Chien Y. H., Tzeng S. Y. & Kuo H. C. (2021) Examining the quality of art in STEAM learning activities. Advance online publication, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Lynch D. (2006) Catching the big fish: Meditation, consciousness, and creativity. Penguin, London. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Macrine S. L. & Fugate J. M. B. (2022) Movement matters: How embodied cognition informs teaching and learning. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Malafouris L. (2013) How things shape the mind: A theory of material engagement. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Malafouris L. (2014) Creative thinking: The feeling of and for clay. Pragmatics and Cognition 22(1): 140–158. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Malinin L. (2016) Creative practices embodied, embedded, and enacted in architectural settings: Toward an ecological model of creativity. Frontiers in Psychology 6: 1978. https://cepa.info/8125
Malinin L. (2019) How radical is embodied creativity? Implications of 4E approaches for creativity research and teaching. Frontiers in Psychology 10: 2372. https://cepa.info/8120
Masson M. E. (1990) Cognitive theories of skill acquisition. Human Movement Science 9(3–5): 221–239. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
McKinney J., Steffensen S. V. & Chemero A. (2022) Practice, enactivism, and ecological psychology. Adaptive Behavior, OnlineFirst. https://cepa.info/8265
Menary R. (2018) Cognitive integration: How culture transforms us and extends our cognitive capabilities. In: Newen A., De Bruin L. & Gallagher S. (eds.) The Oxford handbook of 4E cognition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Menary R. (ed.) (2010) The extended mind. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Merleau-Ponty M. (1962) Phenomenology of perception. Translated by C. Smith. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. French original published in 1945. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Montessori M. (1967) The absorbent mind. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York. Originally published in 1949. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Newen A., De Bruin L. & Gallagher S. (eds.) (2018) The Oxford handbook of 4E cognition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Nikolopoulou K. (2018) Creativity and ICT: Theoretical approaches and perspectives in school education. In: Mikropoulos T. A. (ed.) Research on e-learning and ICT in education: Technological, pedagogical and instructional perspectives. Springer, Cham: 87–100. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Orr D. W. (1992) Ecological literacy: Education for a post modern world. State University of New York, Albany NY. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Papert S. (1980) Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books, New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Penny S. (2022) Sensorimotor debilities in digital cultures. AI & Society 37: 355–366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-021-01186-0 ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Piaget J. (1971) Genetic epistemology. Translated by Eleanor Duckworth. W. W. Norton, New York. French original published in 1970. https://cepa.info/8263
Purvis D. (2021) Creating thinking: Immersive dance theater as 4E cognition in the wild. Journal of Dance Education 21(3): 149–157. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Pye D. (1964) The nature of design. Studio Vista, London. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Quigley C. F., Herro D., Shekell C., Cian H. & Jacques L. (2020) Connected learning in STEAM classrooms: Opportunities for engaging youth in science and math classrooms. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education 18(8): 1441–1463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-10034-z
Radford L., Arzarello F., Edwards L. & Sabena C. (2017) The multimodal material mind: Embodiment in mathematics education. In: Cai J. (ed.) First compendium for research in mathematics education. NCTM, Reston VA: 700–721. https://cepa.info/8126
Reimers F. M. & Chung C. K. (2019) Teaching and learning for the twenty-first century: Educational goals, policies, and curricula from six nations. Harvard Education Press. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Resnick M. (2017) Lifelong kindergarten: Cultivating creativity through projects, passion, peers, and play. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Riegler A. (2001) Towards a radical constructivist understanding of science. Foundations of Science 6(1–3): 1–30. https://cepa.info/1860
Rietveld E. & Brouwers A. A. (2017) Optimal grip on accordance in architectural design practices: An ethnography. Phenomenology Cognitive Science 16(3): 545–564. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-016-9475-x
Rietveld E. & Kiverstein J. (2014) A rich landscape of affordances. Ecological Psychology 26(4): 325–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/10407413.2014.958035
Rietveld E. (2012) Bodily intentionality and social affordances in context. In: Paglieri F. (ed.) Consciousness in interaction: The role of the natural and social context in shaping consciousness. John Benjamins, Amsterdam: 207–226. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Ross W. & Vallée‐Tourangeau F. (2021) Microserendipity in the creative process. The Journal of Creative Behavior 55(3): 661–672. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Schiavio A. & van der Schyff D. (2018) 4E music pedagogy and the principles of self-organization. Behavioral Sciences 8(8): 72. https://cepa.info/8119
Shapiro L. & Stolz S. (2019) Embodied cognition and its significance for education. Theory and Research in Education 17(1): 19–39. https://cepa.info/7980
Shapiro L. (2011) Embodied cognition. Routledge, London. Reviewed in. https://constructivist.info/7/3/231
Shiroishi Y., Uchiyama K. & Suzuki N. (2018) Society 5.0: For human security and well-being. Computer 51(7): 91–95. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Singleton J. (2015) Head, heart and hands model for transformative learning: Place as context for changing sustainability values. Journal of Sustainability Education 9. http://www.jsedimensions.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/PDF-Singleton-JSE-March-2015-Love-Issue.pdf
Sternberg R. J. & Grigorenko E. L. (2001) Guilford’s structure of intellect model and model of creativity: Contributions and limitations. Creativity Research Journal 13(3–4): 309–316. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Sternberg R. J. & Lubart T. I. (1999) The concept of creativity: Prospects and paradigms. In: Sternberg R. J. (ed.) Handbook of creativity. Cambridge University Press, New York: 3–15. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Thompson E. (2007) Mind in life: Biology, phenomenology, and the sciences of mind. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA. Reviewed in. https://constructivist.info/3/2/117
Tomasello M. (2008) Origins of human communication. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Torrance P. (1972) Predictive validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. The Journal of Creative Behavior 6(4): 236–252. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Turvey M. T. (2019) Lectures on perception: An ecological perspective. Routledge, New York. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
van der Schyff D., Schiavio A., Walton A., Velardo V. & Chemero A. (2018) Musical creativity and the embodied mind: Exploring the possibilities of 4E cognition and dynamical systems theory. Music & Science 1: 20 September 2018. https://cepa.info/7379
Varela F. J., Thompson E. & Rosch E. (1991) The embodied mind. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Videla R., Aguayo C. & Veloz T. (2021) From STEM to STEAM: An enactive and ecological continuum. Frontiers in Education 6: 709560. https://cepa.info/8146
Videla-Reyes R., Ravanal E., Pino C., Aros M., Ibacache C. & Valdivia P. (2023) How do the 4E approach and actives methodologies contribute to rethinking creativity in teacher training? Pacific Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning 5(1): 13–14. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjtel.v5i1.160
Vörös S., Froese T. & Riegler A. (2016) Epistemological odyssey: Introduction to special issue on the diversity of enactivism and neurophenomenology. Constructivist Foundations 11(2): 189–204. https://constructivist.info/11/2/189
Vygotsky L. S. (1971) The psychology of art. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. Russian original published in 1925. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Vygotsky L. S. (1978) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Edited by Michael Cole, Vera John-Steiner, Sylvia Scribner & Ellen Souberman. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA. Russian original contributing sources written in the 1930s and onwards and published 1960 onwards. 1938. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Wheeler M. (2010) Mind, things, and materiality. In: Renfrew C. & Malafouris L. (eds.) The cognitive life of things: Recasting the boundaries of the mind. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Publications, Cambridge UK: 29–38. ▸︎ Google︎ Scholar
Comments: 0
To stay informed about comments to this publication and post comments yourself, please log in first.