Peer-reviewed article
STEAM in early childhood education: a scoping review
Jiahong Su, Iris Heung Yue Yim, Rupert Wegerif, Samuel Kai Wah Chu ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examined 26 peer-reviewed articles published between 2017 and 2023 on how STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education is taught in early childhood education settings. The review found that most studies used technologically enhanced learning and inquiry-based project learning approaches, drawing on global or local educational frameworks. Learning outcomes measured included children's knowledge and skills, and changes in teacher and parent attitudes. The review identified significant challenges including limited teacher knowledge, negative attitudes toward teaching STEAM, and lack of teaching resources and guidelines.
Key points
- Most STEAM studies in early childhood education adopted frameworks from global educational initiatives or local policy frameworks
- Technologically enhanced learning was the most commonly used teaching method, followed by inquiry project-based learning
- Learning outcomes included knowledge gain, skill acquisition by children, and attitude changes among teachers and parents
- Mixed-research designs were most frequently used in studies, followed by qualitative approaches
- Key challenges include limited pedagogical content knowledge among educators, negative teacher attitudes toward STEAM, and insufficient teaching guidelines and resources
Limitations
This scoping review only examined published peer-reviewed literature from 2017 to 2023, so it may not capture unpublished evidence, grey literature, or earlier foundational work. The review does not assess the quality or effectiveness of individual studies, and the geographic scope of included articles is not specified, limiting understanding of how STEAM in early childhood varies by region or educational context.
Abstract
Background More and more research has recently focused on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education, especially early childhood education. To the best of our knowledge, no review studies have focused on theoretical frameworks, the details of learning activities, assessment methods, outcomes, and challenges that educators encounter in early childhood education (ECE) settings.Purpose This study reports a scoping review of the literature on the characteristics of STEAM in early childhood education, synthesizing empirical studies on STEAM in ECE to understand how STEAM has been taught at the ECE level and to inform future STEAM curriculum development.Methods The electronic databases used for the literature search included Scopus and Web of Science. A total of 26 articles on STEAM in early childhood education published from 2017 to 2023.Results and Conclusion This study analysed 26 articles and found that (1) most studies adopted the frameworks provided by global educational initiatives or more local educational policy frameworks to inform their research purpose and design for promoting STEAM to develop student’s learning skills; (2) most studies used technologically enhanced learning, followed by inquiry project-based learning; (3) the learning outcomes included knowledge gain, skill acquisition by children, and attitude changes by teachers and parents; (4) mixed-research designs were most commonly used, followed by qualitative designs; and (5) the significant challenges of STEAM education in ECE settings include limited pedagogical content knowledge, negative attitudes towards teaching STEAM, and insufficient teaching guidelines and resources. This study also provides recommendations for educators and future research directions for researchers.