STEM education in the United States is often described as being in a downward spiral, when assessed by competency test scores and lack of student motivation for engaging STEM disciplines. The authors suggest this arises from an overly instrumental view of STEM. While STEAM has arisen as a pushback paradigm, the application of STEAM in schools is challenging, and educators are often unclear about connecting STEM and the arts. The authors suggest envisioning STEAM through natural disciplinary interconnections. They focus on the integration of language arts and figurative thinking to blur the boundaries of STEM and the arts, and offer examples of figurative language—such as metaphor, linguistic etymology and synecdoche—for framing STEM teaching and learning.

中文翻译：

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隐喻与分子：象征性语言将 STEM 与教育艺术联系起来

美国的 STEM 教育通常被描述为处于螺旋式下降，当通过能力测试分数和学生缺乏参与 STEM 学科的动力进行评估时。作者认为，这源于对 STEM 过于工具化的观点。虽然 STEAM 已成为一种反击范式，但 STEAM 在学校中的应用具有挑战性，教育工作者往往不清楚将 STEM 与艺术联系起来。作者建议通过自然学科的相互联系来设想 STEAM。他们专注于语言艺术和比喻思维的融合，以模糊 STEM 和艺术的界限，并提供比喻语言的例子——例如隐喻、语言词源和比喻——来构建 STEM 教学和学习。