METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ TECHNICAL CREATIVITY THROUGH A STEAM APPROACH IN PHYSICS EDUCATION

Abstract

Knowledge of physical laws does not, in itself, ensure the ability to apply them to solve a technical problem. This article presents a STEAM-based methodology for developing technical creativity among students at higher technical education institutions. Drawing on theoretical analysis, functional comparison and pedagogical modelling, it explains the relationships among the goal-setting, theoretical–methodological, content, technological–activity, digital–didactic, assessment–diagnostic and outcome–reflective blocks. Learning activities are organised as a cycle of problem formulation, construction of a physical model, mathematical or schematic justification, testing through an experiment or simulation, project development and reflective assessment. The methodology specifies the use of the 5E model in mechanics, energy auditing in thermodynamics, circuit design in the electric current unit, visual–cognitive modelling in optics, and the Predict–Simulate–Explain approach in quantum optics. An optical filter project based on a laboratory investigation of Malus’s law illustrates how the methodology operates in practice. The article distinguishes six criteria of technical creativity, evidence from processes and products, and the functions of diagnostic, formative and summative assessment. The principal outcome is a methodological system that aligns physics content, learning actions, technical products and assessment evidence.