Abstract
This article examines the relationship between dialogic STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and the development of critical thinking among high school students in Northeastern Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 100 high school students and 10 teachers across six schools, employing a mixed-methods design (Quantitative and Qualitative) to evaluate the intervention’s impact. Pre- and post-intervention measurements were conducted using the EDUCATE INSIGHT Thinking Mindset (EITM) test, supplemented by field notes and interviews. Statistical analysis revealed notable effects in one school (School D) and among specific teachers (D1 and D2). For example, students in School D demonstrated significant growth in Learning Orientation (effect size: 0.646; p < .05) and Creative Problem Solving (effect size: 0.486; p < .05). Qualitative findings highlighted the pivotal role of relational dialogue and teacher practices in fostering critical thinking through STEAM activities. Teachers who prioritized dialogue, tailored support, and collaborative engagement positively influenced student outcomes. This research provides practical recommendations for implementing STEAM education in post-pandemic contexts, emphasizing the need for dialogic pedagogies to address educational inequities and promote critical thinking. Future research should explore scalable strategies for fostering critical thinking through relational approaches in diverse educational settings.
Plain Language Summary
This article shares a study on how well STEAM educational activities helped Mexican high school students develop critical thinking during the COVID-19 lockdown and their return to school. One hundred students and ten teachers participated. Researchers measured students' critical thinking abilities before and after the activities, and also took notes and interviewed participants. The study used a mixed research approach combining both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the impact of the intervention. There were important differences between schools and teachers. School D, and teachers D1 and D2, showed significant improvements. Qualitative analysis showed that these teachers’ relationship styles played a key role in promoting critical thinking through science, technology, and art. These teachers understood students’ needs and encouraged collaboration with university students. The main finding was that critical thinking is strongly linked to having meaningful dialogue during STEAM activities. The article concludes with lessons learned about teaching strategies in emergency situations, like the pandemic, and suggestions for future research and innovative ways to develop critical thinking.
Introduction
STEAM education has become essential in recent years when considering the potential of scientific and technological education to improve the lives of individuals and the economy of nations (Freeman et al., 2015). Creativity and art are now recognized as pivotal components of science and technology education, leading to the evolution of STEM into STEAM to emphasize the integration of the Arts (Bertrand & Namukasa, 2020; Jon & Chung, 2014). This integration allows students to engage in interdisciplinary learning, fostering innovative and creative approaches to solving real-world problems. For example, Bertrand and Namukasa (2023) highlight the value of design-based learning as a key STEAM approach, where activities like creating prototypes and solving authentic challenges help students connect STEM content with creativity, enhancing engagement and critical thinking.
STEM and STEAM education hold great promise for people in both developed and developing countries, particularly for vulnerable populations in urban areas. These groups, including youth in marginalized communities, face limited opportunities for future careers, placing them at risk of social stagnation (Montgomery & Fernández-Cárdenas, 2018). During the COVID-19 pandemic, these concerns grew exponentially as students faced prolonged confinement with few opportunities for social interaction with peers and teachers (Nhamo et al., 2024). In this context, Carter et al. (2021) emphasize the need for innovative STEAM approaches in higher education, noting that collaborative and transdisciplinary practices can address societal challenges exacerbated by crises. Their findings underscore that integrating arts into STEM education not only fosters intellectual curiosity but also helps students develop socially equitable solutions to complex global issues.
Moreover, Bertrand and Namukasa (2023) present a structured pedagogical model for STEAM education, outlining stages that enhance student learning outcomes, such as building curiosity, collecting data, designing solutions, and reflecting on results. This model is particularly relevant in post-pandemic education, where the need for dynamic, student-centered learning has grown. Similarly, Carter et al. (2021) argue that educational institutions must adopt STEAM frameworks to prepare students for the challenges of an interconnected, post-pandemic world. They highlight the importance of collaboration across disciplines and the integration of diverse pedagogical methods to foster creativity, empathy, and problem-solving skills.
In light of these findings, new pedagogies are required to overcome barriers to education in times of upheaval, such as poverty, rigid teaching methods, and the confined lifestyles brought about by crises. By embedding creativity, collaboration, and transdisciplinary thinking into educational frameworks, STEAM education offers a pathway to resilience, equipping students with the tools to navigate and address the challenges of a post-pandemic society.
Critical Thinking and STEAM Education
Critical thinking has been considered in terms of argumentative skills that are developed through social interaction (Amundrud et al., 2021; Rico et al., 2023), but more exploration is needed regarding how students learn critical thinking through science and STEAM education, especially in the context of pandemic life. Recent studies have highlighted the potential of innovative pedagogical practices, such as active learning, problem-solving, and real-world inquiry, to enhance critical thinking skills in diverse educational contexts (Okolie et al., 2022). These strategies emphasize the role of collaborative and learner-centered approaches, which align with the interactive and interdisciplinary essence of STEAM education.
The acronym STEM was introduced in 2001 by Judith A. Ramaley, presenting it as an educational model encouraging inquiry-based learning for students to solve real-world problems using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Sanders, 2008). Over the years, STEM has evolved to include an “A” for Arts, resulting in STEAM. This addition shifts the focus of STEM disciplines to integrate creativity and innovation into problem-solving processes (Watson & Watson, 2013). Various studies suggest that STEAM education promotes reasoning skills through creativity and problem-solving (Choi et al., 2024) and enhances students’ motivation and engagement with their learning process (Dubek et al., 2021).
Empirical research, such as the evaluation of five applications of STEAM education by A. Bautista (2021), underscores its high effectiveness in diverse educational settings. López et al. (2023) emphasize the importance of linking critical thinking sub-skills, such as interpretation, analysis, inference, and argumentation, with practical and engaging STEAM activities to foster these skills effectively. This approach is particularly relevant in technical and vocational education settings, where real-life problem-solving and active participation have been shown to enhance critical thinking development.
Even though STEAM education has gained significant attention, there remains a need to identify best practices for various contexts. Best practices highlight collaboration between teachers and students, with a more horizontal relational framework. For instance, a design-based research study aimed at promoting STEAM education in primary schools through cooperative teaching demonstrated that creating collaborative spaces between teachers from different subject areas fosters interdisciplinary teaching approaches (Li et al., 2022). Similarly, Parra-Pérez et al. (2024) found peer collaboration to be a powerful strategy for critical thinking when guided by teachers, emphasizing the importance of teacher presence in facilitating effective collaborative learning, particularly in cultures where teachers are central figures in the classroom. These findings also align with Harris and de Bruin (2018), who demonstrated that a shift in teachers’ approaches promote creativity in STEAM-based education, especially for younger students. Incorporating collaboration and creativity into STEAM activities can significantly deepen students’ reflective reasoning and problem-solving abilities, making the learning process more meaningful and applicable.
Critical thinking is increasingly recognized as a foundational competency for high school students in Mexico, particularly within competency-based educational reforms (Coronado Fernández & Escalante Ferrer, 2023). Several Mexican studies emphasize that students at the high school level often exhibit limited development of critical thinking due to teacher-centered practices that emphasize rote memorization over higher-order thinking (Escobar Mercado et al., 2024; Parra-Pérez et al., 2024). Research from local institutions such as BUAP, UAEH, and UAEMex indicates a growing interest in implementing strategies that foster analytical and synthetic reasoning in the classroom (G. B. Bautista, 2019; Navarro Luna, 2023).
Although institutional policies in Mexico advocate for critical thinking, vague conceptualizations in official documents and a lack of consistent training for teachers limit implementation (Coronado Fernández & Escalante Ferrer, 2023). Diagnostic evaluations reveal that students particularly struggle with evaluating arguments and identifying logical fallacies, although active learning approaches can enhance these skills (Espinoza Bonilla, 2022).
Government-issued manuals and training resources, such as those by Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education (Rodríguez Morales, 2024), recommend modeling critical thinking through open-ended questioning, dialogue, and collaborative group tasks. Moreover, case studies from diverse schools confirm that student-centered pedagogies, such as problem-based learning and project collaboration, lead to improved performance in argumentation and decision-making (Navarro Luna, 2023).
In conclusion, while there is a formal recognition of the importance of critical thinking at the high school level in Mexico, structural and pedagogical gaps remain. Bridging these gaps requires a systemic shift toward dialogic and inquiry-based approaches that align classroom practices with policy aspirations.
Education in Emergencies
As we mentioned before, the COVID-19 pandemic created uncertainty for the teaching and learning processes, forcing many schools to resort to emergency remote education while face-to-face interactions were restricted. Because the pandemic was such an unexpected event, many studies have shared different experiences when applying long-distance learning during lockdown, especially in higher education (Mukuka et al., 2021). A topic brought up constantly is the assessment of the quality of the remote sessions and the impact on students’ well-being and mental health (Bond, 2020). A concern was also voiced for vulnerable populations who do not have access to a stable internet connection because they live in urban or rural contexts (Aguilera & Nightengale-Lee, 2020; Bond 2020) highlighting existing disparities in access to technology and resources for all. A lack of structure and support for these populations evidences the need to address these challenges and begin an active dialogue between educators and policymakers in an effort to identify what can be done to promote a better learning environment for these populations.
In this respect, a case study by Iglesias-Pradas et al (2021) showcases the academic data of college students whose performance was significantly lower during their remote learning period, compared to the last semester they attended before the pandemic began. Some of the identified factors that affected the performance of the students included: inadequate technological support, a lack of scenarios where students could engage or interact with each other or their professors, and changes in the way students were evaluated that negatively affected their grades. Tsakeni (2022) also identified in her study that the lack of collaboration and interaction between students through remote classrooms for STEM education in practical sessions lowered motivation and made students feel more isolated during their learning process. Other challenges highlighted by the author included limited access to resources and equipment, as well as a lack of training in technical skills to use remote learning platforms. Teaching and learning science in a pandemic context have been a challenge, as it has been for learning many other domains in the curriculum.
However, just as there were challenges, there were potential elements that were discovered in this study. The use of simulation software to enhance the learners experience, as well as the increased accessibility to STEM education allowed Tsakeni (2022) to propose recommendations to improve the use of remote classrooms for STEM education: to develop and design accessible and user-friendly technologies, involving students in the development of new learning platforms, and promoting more collaboration and communication between the students and their teacher. Accordingly, spaces to interact and encourage dialogue are highly recommended when designing or planning STEAM education activities (Ching-Chiang & Fernández-Cárdenas, 2020). Thus, dialogic learning should be considered as a key element that should enrich and empower the students when learning about science and STEAM topics.
Dialogue and Critical Thinking
The correlation between dialogue and learning (Fernández-Cárdenas & Reyes Angona, 2019; Mercer et al., 2019), dialogue and school achievement (Alexander, 2018), and dialogue and problem solving (Fernández et al., 2015; Wegerif et al., 1999) have been topics of interest in various studies in the field of educational innovation in recent years. However, in this field we also still need to learn more about the relationship between dialogue and critical thinking.
Dialogic learning has been described as the capacity of participants to get involved in social interaction, through the use of language and other semiotic means in order to construct knowledge together. Dialogic learning also involves social orientations to others, involving empathy, and respect for a plurality of perspectives (Fernández-Cárdenas, 2014; Reyes-Angona et al., 2020). In classroom settings, dialogue has been promoted as a way to teach involving others in discussions, through explicit efforts of repetitions, elaborations, and recapitulations of what is being presented by students (Alexander, 2018; Kim & Wilkinson, 2019). Skillful teachers manage to energize their own and their students’ talk to construct knowledge together. Likewise, educational interventions have aimed at helping students to be able to talk in peer groups and use language to think together (Mercer & Howe, 2012; Mercer et al., 2003). A study conducted by Hajhosseini et al. (2016) found that discussions foster social interaction, which is vital for personal and educational development. Simple arrangements, such as seating in circles and taking turns to speak, significantly enhance the quality of social interactions among students. This collaborative environment helps in building better relationships between students and teachers, and among classmates.
Dialogue has been tested as part of the teaching of science and technology. It has been found that when participants move away from privileging a single voice in educational activities, usually the voice of the teacher, students have the capacity to express what they perceive in a given experience. In the case of science and technology, dialogic learning helps participants to understand their own role in constructing knowledge together, not only following the voice of the curriculum, but also highlighting the local features of scientific problems, as lived in their communities (Ching-Chiang et al., 2022). In particular, when teachers help students to create and express their own positions in scientific topics, students have the opportunity to make mistakes and to learn from them in a plurality of perspectives (Fernández-Limón et al., 2018)
Dialogue has proven to be an effective educational approach in emergency settings. For instance, Burde et al (2017) found that students learned more when they were allowed to participate in debates, discussions, and question-and-answer exercises, in the context of warfare in the Middle East. Ching-Chiang et al. (2022) found that participants learned more in out-of-school scientific activities during the pandemic, if they were allowed to develop dialogic interactions in offline mobile learning activities designed for settings where internet was not available. The dialogic spirit involved in this emergency setting allowed for innovation to emerge, with the agency and genuine involvement of participants.
Dialogue has also been linked to the promotion of critical thinking. Ollinheimo and Hakkarainen (2023) have suggested that critical thinking is an internalized ability of the features of social interaction where participants have the capacity to think, using a diversity of perspectives. In other words, multiple points of view expressed in social settings and collaborative tasks help participants to internalize a way of thinking that is characterized by the capacity to assess the validity of data and versions shared by persons. Thus, participants incorporate complexity in their mindsets, being able to overcome rigidity, lack of consideration, and acting without reasoning, traits associated with a lack of reflexive function or mentalization (Fonagy & Allison, 2012). This is also similar to what Guzmán and Larrain (2021) distill from using dialogue in educational settings. In dialogic teaching, they found, participants internalize ways of using language where social organization is “more symmetrical, more open to diverse ideas, humbler, with less fear of being wrong and with more opportunities for students’ talk, among others” (p. 7). We believe that dialogic STEAM education affords the possibility of promoting critical thinking skills by allowing participants to engage in relationships where the plurality of points of view is appropriated as a reflexive mindset where complexity is appreciated, and inquiry becomes part of approaching life.
The purpose of this study is to examine how dialogic STEAM educational activities relate to the development of critical thinking in Mexican high school students. Specifically, it investigates how relational dialogue within STEAM contexts may support key dimensions of critical thinking during a period of educational disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Theoretical Framework
This study is grounded in dialogic pedagogy and sociocultural theories of learning, particularly emphasizing the role of relational dialogue in developing critical thinking. Dialogic learning is understood as the process by which participants co-construct knowledge through meaningful social interactions, using language and other semiotic tools (Alexander, 2018; Fernández-Cárdenas, 2014). In this framework, critical thinking emerges not only as an individual cognitive skill but as a socially situated competency, internalized through exposure to diverse perspectives and collaborative reasoning (Fernyhough, 2008; Wertsch, 1985). Higher psychological processes depend on the appropriation of skills modeled through social interaction, which are internalized by the participants when they have opportunities to meet with others and thus contemplate different mental perspectives on a given issue or consider viewpoints for the cooperative solving of a problem (Fernández et al., 2015; Vygotski, 1978).
The relationship between dialogue and cognitive development has been extensively studied in the field of educational innovation (Mercer et al., 2019). Relational dialogue, characterized by empathy, mutual respect, and reflexivity, has been shown to create safe environments for expressing ideas and confronting assumptions, thereby promoting critical reflection, from early childhood throughout the lifespan. This framework aligns with the idea that critical thinking can be nurtured through structured dialogic encounters, particularly in STEAM contexts where students engage with complex, interdisciplinary problems. Through this engagement, participants also appropriate the use of cultural tools that are relevant for a community of practice (Wertsch, 1998). In these communities, participants learn through the mastery of tools, starting from a role of novices, and moving into a progressive role of acknowledged master practitioners (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 2010). Thus, from a sociocultural approach, learning is the trajectory of participation, the sum of interactions where dialogue makes possible the development of the mind.
Moreover, this study draws upon the notion that relational dialogue is central to equitable education in marginalized communities, especially during crisis scenarios like the COVID-19 pandemic. By fostering collaborative inquiry and shared problem-solving, dialogic STEAM education offers a powerful pedagogical model for engaging students both cognitively and affectively, ultimately contributing to their critical and creative development.
For this study, we aimed to answer the following research question: What is the relationship between critical thinking and dialogic STEAM education in Mexican high school students in pandemic times?
Next, we describe in more detail the methodology for addressing this question.
Methodology
The project addresses the critical challenge of equitable access to quality education in marginalized communities in Monterrey, Mexico, and in a health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education is vital to achieving many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, quality education on these topics is limited by access to schools and programs that have the materials and academic staff to implement them. Furthermore, since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities for accessing this type of educational experience were further limited, making it urgent to design and implement inclusive and sustainable quality STEAM education activities for all. The main objective of the project was, through dialogic STEAM activities, to generate critical learning opportunities (Gómez et al., 2011) that contribute to social inclusion and sustainable growth in these communities. Critical learning in this context is defined as the transformation of a person’s specific concepts and capabilities, through critical dialogues around digitally prototyped solutions to address real local challenges. Tangible results and critical feedback from peers lead to more complex inquiries and deeper learning. This active, peer-to-peer, applied learning approach reduces the stigma of difficulty associated with learning science and technology subjects, and promotes digital employability skills.
Study Design
This project, funded by the US Consulate in Monterrey, lasted 12 months and implemented a set of 18 dialogic STEAM activities with students and teachers from six technological Upper Secondary Schools located in marginalized areas of the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Mexico. In Mexico, high schools comprise two levels: Secondary (ages 12–15) and Upper Secondary Education (ages 15–18). Upper Secondary Education (USE) aims to prepare students for higher education or workforce entry over a 3-year period, typically serving individuals aged 15 to 18. USE technical high schools have been built close to marginalized areas in Mexico, where students are also taught about industrial technologies and services. These kinds of high schools are meant to provide students with enough knowledge to seek a full-time job upon graduation, since a significant percentage of the students enrolled at these schools will not pursue a university degree; in other words, very few of these students will be attending any other higher education course. The research work presented in this article was conducted in these marginalized contexts, where the COVID-19 pandemic particularly disrupted the learning process of these already vulnerable students in pre-pandemic times. Despite the recent work on education in emergencies, there is a strong need to understand if what we propose is helpful for these groups to ensure that educational innovation can genuinely help others to learn in meaningful ways in these circumstances.
The dialogic STEAM activities were grouped into five topics, based on sources from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Smithsonian Museum, and other educational institutions in the United States. The topics covered were: (1) Astronomy, (2) Environment, (3) Gastronomy and chemistry, (4) Digital Literacy, and (5) Employability. The sessions were designed by social service students and teachers, and are described below in Table 1.
Description of Modules of Activities for the High STEAM Project.
Sampling and Participants
The study involved 100 high school students (average age of 16.6 years) and 10 teachers from six schools located in marginalized areas of Monterrey, Mexico. Teachers and students attended Upper Secondary Education schools in marginalized areas of the metropolitan region of Monterrey, Mexico, and were invited to participate in this project with the agreement of local educational authorities. A purposive sampling method was employed to select participants based on their enrollment in STEAM-related courses and accessibility within the study’s logistical constraints. In other words, the study was carried out with the students who were willing to participate and enrolled in the courses taught by the teachers involved in this project. The sample paired pre- and post- intervention measurements of participants, who were divided into nine groups across six different schools. More specifically, in three schools, two groups participated, each led by a different teacher who was trained and monitored as part of the project.
All participants signed informed consents, following technical and ethical approval of the funding body. All the relevant permissions were obtained from local and state educational authorities, including authorizations for accessing schools, and collaborating with teachers and students. Data confidentiality was maintained throughout the study, and all identifying information was anonymized during analysis. We took care of every detail to avoid research misconduct and ensure trust and confidence in science (Kanaki & Kalogiannakis, 2023; Petousi & Sifaki, 2020). The activities offered an alternative STEAM education in communities of practice organized through an online platform, and eventually, in face-to-face interactions. This research did not create distress or harm and only involved the study of educational practices conducted in educational and at-home settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project, led by Professor Fernández-Cárdenas, also involved two research assistants and 20 university social service students from different university degrees at Tecnologico de Monterrey, as well as a PhD student in Educational Innovation. A social service student in Mexico is a higher education student who serves vulnerable participants in a way that is both an opportunity to solve problems in marginalized communities and also becomes a real-world scenario for the student to put into practice disciplinary knowledge that is being appropriated and mastered as part of his or her academic trajectory. All students in Mexico must provide 480 hr of social service to become eligible for graduation.
Instruments
The achievement of the objectives was assessed through a mixed QUAN + qual methodology (Creswell & Clark, 2017) that included the EDUCATE INSIGHT Thinking Mindset (EITM) (Facione, 2000; Insight Assessment, 2025), the use of ethnographic tools and the development of quantitative and qualitative analyses. The EDUCATE INSIGHT Thinking Mindset (EITM) instrument was administered to measure students’ critical thinking disposition across five dimensions: Mental Focus, Creative Problem Solving, Learning Orientation, Cognitive Integrity, and Scholarly Rigor. Mental Focus is the ability to concentrate in a sustained manner. Creative Problem Solving is the ability to find innovative solutions and think flexibly. Learning Orientation involves the desire and willingness to learn continuously. Cognitive Integrity implies a critical and ethical attitude, an attitude of examining your own prejudices. Finally, Scholarly Rigor is a methodical and disciplined approach to problems, involving the use of academic sources, and exhaustivity in the consideration of available information, for example.
The instrument, validated for Spanish-speaking populations (Bravo et al., 2020), demonstrated reliability, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .777, and a CRI value of .925. The relevance and implications of these psychometric results made this test useful for carrying out this study with Mexican Spanish-speaking students.
Ethnographic tools included the elaboration of fieldnotes after each session. These field notes were analyzed, in terms of the performed activities and the meanings attributed by participants to their involvement in the different lessons and the impact on their perception of science, technology, and art. Fieldnotes were also discussed and coded by at least two members of the research team, to provide judgment alignment and rigor through the systematization of information.
Data Collected
During the period spanning June 2021 to May 2022, we collected 59 paired tests, pre- and post- intervention measurements of participants, including socioeconomic and demographic variables about family compositions, educational trajectories, and income. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted to evaluate changes in critical thinking disposition, using the EITM instrument.
We also collected 129 video recordings of the sessions through Microsoft Teams, Zoom sessions, and personal video recorders, such as mobile phones; 168 field notes produced by social service students; 485 pictures taken by all students; and 358 screenshots of the virtual classrooms when the sessions were fully remote. Ethnographic tools, including field notes, video recordings, photographs, and screenshots, were used to capture the contextual nuances of the intervention. Field notes were elaborated by social service students for each session carried out in schools, online or in person. Social service students were trained in advance in seminars involving anthropological basic concepts and the use of ethnographic tools.
All these data were analyzed to produce a rigorous answer to the research question, by first performing statistical analysis, and second looking in more detail at the qualitative evidence gathered, using a linguistic ethnographic approach (Maine & Čermáková, 2021), where the contexts of communication are highly relevant to understand language use in human interaction. In this case, contexts of communication include relationships in a very relevant manner, and the way ethnographic fieldnotes indexed the quality of these relationships in terms of mutual engagement and care.
Results
Socioeconomic and Demographic Variables
While the instrument primarily aimed to measure students’ disposition toward critical thinking, it also included socioeconomic and demographic variables that allowed for investigating possible exogenous factors influencing the impact of this educational intervention. Among these variables, employment of father and mother, maximum educational level of each parent, number of people who cohabit with the student in the same household, combined income of all the inhabitants of the household, as well as the remunerated work to which the student is dedicated were considered.
Table 2 illustrates that a greater proportion of students reported that both their mother and father had completed middle school as their highest level of education, followed by high school—the academic level at which the students were actively enrolled in during the intervention. Notably, only 6.8% of the parents had attained an education level beyond high school.
Maximum Educational Level of Parents.
The inclusion of context variables provided insights into the activities undertaken by the students’ parents. For mothers, the most reported activities were housewife, factory worker, and domestic worker, which remained consistent across both applications. Conversely, the main activities of the participating students’ parents were employee, factory operator, and driver. It is noteworthy to highlight the relationship between the parents’ level of education and their employment opportunities.
To understand more about their environment, they were also asked about the number of people who cohabited with them. Table 3 shows the composition of the responses received, where the answers associated with four and five people are the most frequent.
Number of Inhabitants in the House.
Regarding the income contributed by all the inhabitants of the household, the most frequent answers were the range from 0 to 150 USD with 32.2% and from 150 to 300 USD with 25.4% in the pretest; as well as from 0 to 150 USD with 25.4% and from 150 to 300 USD with 30.5% of responses in the exit survey.
Quantitative Analysis
The EDUCATE INSIGHT Thinking Mindset (EITM) instrument was used to evaluate changes in students’ critical thinking disposition across five dimensions: Mental Focus, Creative Problem Solving, Learning Orientation, Cognitive Integrity, and Scholarly Rigor. Fifty-nine students completed both pre- and post-intervention assessments.
The results obtained from the EITM were analyzed at the beginning and conclusion of the intervention. Tests were administered online, responses were provided on a Likert scale, and scores were provided using a standardized template provided by Insight Education. Figure 1 displays the medians of the scores for each dimension due to the non-normal distribution of the scores. The score range for each dimension is from 0 to 50 points. In both the pre- and post-tests, all five dimensions scored above the midpoint, indicating an ambivalent or emerging mentality according to the instrument. The dimension of Learning Orientation achieved the highest score, indicating a somewhat positive mentality. Regarding changes, while two dimensions showed an increase and two remained stable, it is noteworthy that Mental Focus experienced a two-point decline.
Pre- and Post- intervention CCTS test scores. EDUCATE INSIGHT Thinking Mindset (EITM) test scores. Learning Orientation displayed statistical significance of 90% confidence level (p-value .055).
To assess the statistical significance of the obtained differences, a Wilcoxon analysis was conducted. The dimension of Learning Orientation exhibited statistical significance at a 90% confidence level (p-value .055).
Contextual Analysis
The investigated context variables align with those studied in intergenerational social mobility research, as reported by Delajara et al. (2018). Correlations were estimated between the mother’s highest educational level and the scores for each dimension measured by the EITM test. A similar statistical analysis was performed using the father’s reported work activity. However, no statistically significant relationship was identified between the dimensions of Mental Focus, Creative Problem Solving, Learning Orientation, Cognitive Integrity, Scholarly Rigor, and the aforementioned context variables in the sample analyzed.
Finally, the analysis considered exogenous economic variables by examining responses related to the participating students’ engagement in paid work activities to generate income. It was observed that the majority of students did not engage in economically compensated work, although the percentage of those with jobs increased: from 13.6% in the first application to 22% in the second. Most reported salaries fell within the range of 0 to 150 USD.
The Effect of Schools and Teachers
In addition to the previous analyses, statistical estimates were conducted to explore potential variations in critical thinking disposition before and after the intervention. The investigation sought to determine whether the intervention outcomes differed across educational centers and whether the assigned teacher influenced the results among the adolescents.
The Wilcoxon test was applied to evaluate changes in scores pre- and post-intervention. Effect sizes were calculated for significant findings to provide a measure of practical significance. Statistical analysis revealed significant improvements in critical thinking scores for one participating school (School D). The most notable increases were observed in the Creative Problem Solving (p = .034, r = .486) and Learning Orientation (p = .005, r = .646) dimensions, indicating strong effects. No statistically significant changes were detected in other schools. These findings suggest that teacher-specific factors, such as engagement and teaching strategies, influenced the outcomes (Table 4).
Analysis by Educational Center.
Note. The values in bold indicate statistically significant changes.
p value ≤ .05.
Considering that there were differences in a participating school, even though the intervention took place in two groups with different teachers, we proceeded to analyze the possible differences in the students’ scores according to the teacher in charge of the intervention. Thus, Table 5 shows that a teacher (Teacher D1), from the same School D, helped her students to achieve a significant increase in scores for three dimensions: Mental Focus, Creative Problem Solving, and Learning Orientation. These differences had a significant effect, indicating that the teacher intervention largely explains the results (0.733, 0.735 and 0.733, respectively). The other teacher (Teacher D2) from the same educational center only obtained a significant increase in the Learning Orientation score of their students, with a significant effect (0.653).
Analysis by Educational Center and Teacher.
Note. The values in bold indicate statistically significant changes.
p value ≤ .05.
The findings highlight the significance of the intervention in this study. Despite providing the same training to all participating teachers, the data suggest variations in their approaches during the intervention. Furthermore, within school settings involving adolescent students, the teacher-student relationship, their ability to foster engagement, and the motivation they inspire within the group hold relevance.
Qualitative Analysis
A thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) was applied to analyze field notes, along with the recording of the sessions and the photographs gathered. This allowed us to identify which practices helped enrich the experience of the students, resulting in positive feedback and good results in their activities. The coding process involved the following steps:
Initial Coding: Field notes and transcripts were open-coded independently by two researchers to identify key themes related to critical thinking and relational dialogue.
Axial Coding: Codes were grouped into categories, focusing on recurring patterns and their alignment with the study’s theoretical framework.
Selective Coding: Final themes were refined, emphasizing the relational aspects of teacher-student interactions and their impact on critical thinking.
Software Use: MAXQDA software (MAXQDA, 2025) was utilized to organize and analyze qualitative data systematically, ensuring transparency and traceability of findings.
Qualitative analysis revealed three key themes related to the intervention’s impact on critical thinking:
Relational Dialogue: Teachers fostering a safe and dialogic environment enabled students to express themselves freely, enhancing their cognitive engagement.
Teacher Preparation: Teachers who reviewed materials in advance and supplemented lesson plans with their own resources significantly enriched the learning experience.
Student Engagement: High levels of participation were observed in classes where students felt supported and included.
In the following pages, we present the detailed results from our analysis, along with the description of a specific school (School D) that became an extraordinary example of the various ways in which the teachers and the social service students played a key role in the success of this experience.
Good Practices the Teachers Did That Positively Affected the Experience of the Students
Social service students from Tecnologico de Monterrey actively participated in the project by assisting the teacher in each session. Their responsibilities included documenting their observations both inside and outside the classroom regarding the High STEAM Project experience. The field notes consistently documented the teachers’ role throughout the entire experience, particularly their efforts in fostering a secure environment that encouraged student collaboration, self-expression, and personal growth.
Based on student feedback and the observations recorded in the field notes by university students, four notable practices emerged as having a significant impact on the project. Social service students from Tecnologico de Monterrey supported the project by collaborating with the teachers during their sessions. Part of their duties was writing a field note about each session, detailing what they observed inside and outside the classroom about the High STEAM Project experience.
Something that was constantly recorded in these field notes was the role the teachers played during the whole experience. Specifically, when they tried to promote a safe environment for their students to collaborate, express themselves, and grow.
Next, we present the top four practices the teachers conducted that, according to the feedback received from their students and the observations recorded in the field notes from social service students, had a substantial impact throughout the project.
Teachers Who Read the Material Before the Session and Searched for Other Sources and Materials to Help Enrich the Lesson Plan for Their Students
Whenever the teachers committed to reviewing the materials and the plan of the lesson beforehand, the sessions ran smoothly. There were a few instances where the teachers arrived at the classroom unsure of what the session was about, or what the activity was for the day. During these instances, the social service students expressed that they felt like the whole burden of facilitating the material fell on them.
When the opposite happened, and the social service students noticed that the teachers had taken the time to review the material and understood the goal of the session, then it was documented that the students felt supported and grateful for how involved the teachers were with the material. There were even some cases where the students expressed delighted surprise when the teachers took it even one step further and prepared supportive materials to help complement the lesson plan they were given. Here is a testimony written by a student in her fieldnote:
I was pleasantly surprised by the teacher’s extensive collection of facts to engage the class and highlight their investment in the topic. They even prepared an additional PowerPoint presentation, using examples of carbon and water footprints, to help students comprehend the concept of a digital footprint.—School A, Session 12
Overall, the students seemed to be grateful to have more examples, stories and opportunities to connect with the material, whenever the teachers reviewed and strengthened the lesson plan with their unique approach.
Teachers Who Took Extra Time to Open Spaces of Dialogue to Understand the Needs, Concerns, and Hopes of the Students
Dialogue spaces were designed in the lesson plans, promoting constant feedback from the students. The objective behind this project was to encourage the students to speak their minds and express themselves constantly through the sessions. However, there were teachers who considered not only the dialogue spaces that were already arranged and pre-planned for the lesson.
The social service students documented whenever a teacher stayed after the session to interact with their students and identify their needs, concerns, and ideas for the future. These extra spaces of dialogue allowed the students to feel more comfortable with being honest and sharing with the teacher if they were currently experiencing any hardship or complication at home, which would explain why they were a little disconnected through the session, or maybe late in handing in their activity.
Being available to listen to the students on a personal level allowed the teachers to reconsider the dates for specific tasks or even for the next session, prioritizing the well-being of their students in a more integral way. Next, there is a testimony gathered from the field notes written by the social students that reflect this kind of interaction between the teacher and their students:
Throughout the session, the teacher actively ensured that every student participated and attentively listened to the information provided. However, if a student appeared disconnected for any reason, she would stay behind after the session, expressing concern and offering support to help them re-engage with the class. Her proactive efforts to connect with students fostered a comfortable environment for them to share their ideas, concerns, or opinions.—School C, Session 2
Taking the extra time to connect with their students on an individual level, being open to them expressing what they are going through, their thoughts and concerns, helped to make the experience of the students a more positive one.
Teachers Who Actively Requested the Students to Express Their Thoughts and Questions Without Fear Create a Classroom That Feels Like a Safe Space
An element that was thoroughly documented by the social service students in their field notes, was the topic of promoting safe collaborative spaces in the classroom. In the first module, students were reported as not participating much at the beginning, feeling shy and uncomfortable about maybe making a mistake. With time, dedication and effort, certain teachers allowed themselves to reiterate constantly that the space in which they were was safe, and that they could open and trust that their words would be treated with respect and consideration.
Here is a testimony expressed in the field notes of the social service students, reflecting on this phenomenon:
I can tell the teacher is trying to have a more friendly role with her students. She follows along with their jokes that came up during the dialogue of the different uses Microsoft Office have (For example, when she was explaining the different uses one can have for Power Point, one of the students said jokingly that they could use it to convince their grandparents of why they deserve their inheritance) and her following along with the joke definitely shifted the way the classroom felt, it felt more welcoming and relaxed. She also was available to listen to the anecdotes of her students in such a way that the students started expressing they felt more comfortable in sharing and expressing their opinions with her—School B, Session 13
Allowing the students to be themselves, to express a joke every now and then, and even opening up about their own life experiences allowed these teachers to generate a sharing space with their students that can be categorized as a “safe space”, which allowed the students to connect with the material at a deeper level.
Teachers Who Showed a Collaborative Attitude Toward Their Assigned Social Service Student
During the design process of the lessons, social service students were instructed to have a supportive role in the classroom. If the teacher had questions about the lesson plan or needed any kind of help, the social service students were instructed to help. However, there were some students who put in an extra effort, preparing material, and even volunteering to participate during some of the sessions as presenters. Teachers who showed a collaborative attitude and listened to the suggestions and ideas of the social service students allowed the lesson plans to become more tailored to their specific classroom needs, resulting in very creative and interactive sessions.
Here is one example in which the social service students took a more active role during the sessions they participated in:
I had prepared some questions to help the students reflect on the artists and their work. The students participated excitedly, raising their hands to take turns in speaking. When they speak, they do so respectfully. However, I am doing my best to connect with them and make them feel comfortable, I hope they don’t see me as an authority figure, but someone they can open up to. In order to connect with them, I tried calling out their names when they answered my questions. I am doing my best to memorize their names.—School E, Session 2
From the perspective of the students, we have the following point of view:
The dialogue was guided by the social service student based on two elements: The importance of our community in our professional formation and the tool of IKIGAI: How do we connect our knowledge, our abilities, our passions… to a future profession, job, or mission in life? The social service student shared about her own path and how life guided her to the job she currently has.—School E, Session 16
By sharing their own stories and experiences, the social service students were able to promote an active dialogue with the high school students. This definitely had a positive impact on the participation of the high school students, who, by the end of the project expressed gratitude for the vulnerability and the level of trust the social service students had shown during the sessions. Because the teacher assigned to the class allowed for this type of dialogue and connection to be built in their class, they got a favorable result when it came to student interaction during the sessions.
School D: An Extraordinary Example Where Teachers Performed Good Practices That Shaped the Experience of Their Students
As demonstrated, there were specific practices that had a positive effect on the experiences of the high school students. However, there was a particular school that had both key relational aspects at a high level: Very committed teachers and proactive social service students, which resulted in a unique experience for everyone involved.
This school was School D, which, according to the quantitative analysis, also reflected a statistically significant change in the way students answered their pre- and post- tests (see Table 5 in the section about quantitative results above).
To begin, the social service students assigned to this school took very detailed field notes and documented the activities of the students through photographs and video very carefully. Overall, the following data was gathered for School D (Table 6):
Data from School D.
However, the level of commitment of the social service students was not limited to their field notes and documenting abilities. A significant difference that made this school an outlier was the fact that the social service students and the teachers actively worked as a team, having meetings before and after the sessions, discussing what went well, what went wrong, and how they could try to make things better the next session.
This level of communication between both parties proved beneficial for the students who enjoyed very interactive sessions, planned carefully, and gave both the teachers and the social service students an active role in every single session.
The teachers were also particularly involved during the whole process, reviewing the material beforehand and even planning extra things to help enrich the experience of their students.
Here is an example of that:
The teacher always did her best effort to ensure that every single student participated at least once. When the students were busy conducting the activity by themselves, she approached me and started a dialogue with me, trying to get to know me better. Even though I am not a student at this school, she told me that she thought it would be good to let the students know me better in the following sessions, so that they can feel comfortable participating more. I agreed. I will do my best to connect more with the students in the following sessions—School D, Session 2
This simple interaction of approaching the social service students and inviting them to share more of themselves with the high school students would set the pace for the rest of the project. After that, both the teacher and the student would go the extra mile to make the sessions memorable and enjoyable for their students.
For example:
I was very happy to see that the teacher decided to play her role seriously, even getting an astronaut costume to help set the mood for our session. Not only that, but she did the activity along with all the students, explaining step by step how to conduct the experiment. This really helped the students a lot.—School D, Session 1
However, School D did not have perfect sessions since the beginning of the project. The level of trust that was developed was the product of learning from past experiences.
For example:
At the beginning, you could feel uncertainty in the air. The students were shy and did not really participate much. They divided themselves into small groups, leaving the more introverted students out of their teams.—School D, Session 3
After the session had ended, both the teacher and the social service student asked the class why they had been particularly disconnected and why they participated so little. In a shy manner, the students confessed they were stressed because they had a robotics contest that week and they were behind on their work. They were also behind in their usual homework and, feeling overloaded with tasks, they had felt “out of place” during that particular session.
Instead of scolding them or telling them they had to make an extra effort, both the teacher and the social service student were understanding and patient. The social student went on to write in their field note that day:
We will try to make them finish all the activities in class, during the session, so that we don’t leave them any homework, with the hope that we won’t overload them this way again—School D, Session 5
By being patient, engaging, and considerate, both the teacher and the social service student did their best to support the stressed-out high school students in their hour of need. And this motivated the students to engage more with the material and do their best during the sessions, feeling grateful for the consideration that was given to them during one of the most stressful weeks of their year.
As mentioned before, a key element was that the social service students also opened up and shared about their own lives, paths, and experiences. Documented in a field note:
At the end of the session, I took a couple of minutes to motivate them (the students) in the development of their projects. I shared with them about my own experience and how, thanks to the work I have done, I have developed a prototype in my own field of work. I hope to have inspired them—(School D), Session 8
This kind of interaction promoted a safe learning environment, which session after session just became stronger.
As documented by the social service student:
I insist, I am fascinated by the space we have been able to create. This space is ideal so that everyone can share their ideas and their points of view. During this session, everyone volunteered to share their proposal on how to reduce their use of water. It was overly exciting to see how worried they were and how they did their best to research activities to reduce the waste of water in their communities.—School D, Session 7
By the last module of the project, where the students were requested to reflect on their own goals for the future and the lives they want to build, the conversations reached profound levels. As documented by the social service students:
The students opened and said things I didn’t expect. The most intimate details, we kept between ourselves on a one-on-one level. One student shared that her dream was to become a mom of at least three children. One girl said that her dream was to study fashion. One boy said that his big goal in life is to be happy. I didn’t think the students would open and share such intimate ideas with us, but this just further confirms the dialogic space that we have built session after session. I feel grateful.—School D, Session 16
In the end, School D became an extraordinary example of the potential that this project has in shaping and building trust for participants. In summary, data from School D demonstrated how relational dialogue and collaborative teacher-student interactions significantly influenced critical thinking, in particular creative problem-solving and learning orientation:
Teachers created inclusive spaces by addressing students’ concerns, such as workload stress, during sessions.
Social service students collaborated closely with teachers to tailor lesson plans, resulting in more engaging and interactive activities.
Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses
In this article, we aimed to answer the following research question: What is the relationship between critical thinking and dialogic STEAM education in Mexican high school students in pandemic times? Our quantitative and qualitative findings demonstrate that STEAM education promotes the development of critical thinking, particularly when implemented within the framework of relational dialogue. Relationships imbued with trust allow collaborative efforts for solving problems together and eventually lead to the internalization of dialogues as a process of informed assessment of alternatives, fostering the emergence of critical mindsets.
Supporting these claims, the outcomes for School D are not only statistically significant but also valuable in highlighting the degree to which relational dialogue plays a pivotal role in fostering critical thinking through STEAM education. These relationships involved establishing a safe space for interaction and understanding students’ needs and hopes, ensuring they felt secure in educational settings. As Destin et al. (2021) suggest, directly engaging with students is one of the most powerful ways to understand their needs and gather honest feedback. This approach enabled us to tailor instructional materials and activities to meet students’ immediate requirements, thereby enhancing their enthusiasm for learning STEAM content. This strategy proved especially effective in involving students by encouraging participation in carefully designed educational practices, even under pandemic restrictions.
Relational dialogue was further enriched by the involvement of university social service students, whose contributions were instrumental in personalizing learning experiences in School D. These students worked closely with teachers and researchers, collaboratively designing and implementing lessons aligned with high school students’ needs and interests. The success of this approach underscores the significance of personalized and relationally constructed learning environments (Kallio & Halverson, 2020), which are integral to fostering critical thinking as both a cognitive and social competency. This relational understanding aligns with theoretical frameworks emphasizing that critical thinking is a socially constructed process. Participants in this study appropriated productive ways of considering multiple perspectives, creatively addressing problems, and systematically analyzing evidence in a given field, as highlighted by Guzmán and Larrain (2021) and Bertrand and Namukasa (2023).
Discussion
Drawing upon the theoretical framework of dialogic pedagogy and sociocultural theories of learning, the findings of this study resonate with Vygotsky’s view that higher psychological processes, such as attention, memory, motivation, and particularly thought and language, emerge first through social interaction and are later internalized by individuals (Vygotski, 1978; Wertsch, 1985). In this project, critical thinking was not simply treated as an isolated, cognitive ability, but rather as a relational and dialogic process (Ollinheimo & Hakkarainen, 2023). Critical thinking developed through shared meaning-making among diverse participants: researchers, university students fulfilling social service, schoolteachers, and high school students. These interactions were facilitated in 162 educational sessions that explicitly encouraged imagination, collaborative exploration, and dialogic engagement.
This aligns with the theoretical proposition that critical thinking can be nurtured through relational dialogue, defined by empathy, mutual respect, and reflexivity. When high school students were given the freedom to explore, make mistakes, and express themselves in playful and horizontal ways, they were participating in a culturally meaningful activity that enabled them to internalize new forms of reasoning. Similarly, university students assumed active roles in designing and implementing educational activities, while teachers exercised autonomy to adapt materials and methodologies. Researchers themselves engaged in these contexts not as distant observers but as co-learners, embracing uncertainty and valuing the collective autonomy that emerged. We could see how empathy evolved into trust between the different types of participants in this project, due to their meaningful involvement in the shared spaces created.
The project thus illustrates two key Vygotskian hypotheses: first, that critical thinking is an internalized form of socially mediated interaction, and second, that learning is embedded in social contexts, distributed among people and tools. These findings highlight that dialogic STEAM learning enabled participants to imagine together, collaboratively reflect on problems, and co-construct knowledge through multiple perspectives. This supports the view that sociocultural learning occurs through progressive trajectories of participation, where novices (e.g., high school students, but also university students) increasingly master the cultural tools of a learning community, moving toward more expert roles (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 2010).
In sum, this project shows that critical thinking grows out of shared experiences that allow for the internalization of socially modeled forms of reasoning. Especially in the context of educational innovation during crisis scenarios like the COVID-19 pandemic, such an approach offers a compelling path toward equitable, engaging, and transformative learning experiences in marginalized communities.
Conclusion
Throughout the course of this project, a reflective revelation emerged: the development of critical thinking by students is achievable through the establishment of relational dialogue. As we delved into this venture, a pivotal lesson became clear: Relational dialogue demands unwavering engagement and mutual trust built in human relationships.
Relational dialogue refers to the process of building understanding and knowledge through meaningful, interactive conversations characterized by mutual respect, empathy, and collaboration. In the context of STEAM education, relational dialogue involves creating a space where students and teachers actively engage with each other’s ideas, perspectives, and experiences to co-construct knowledge. This form of dialogue is inherently social and relies on participants’ willingness to listen, respond thoughtfully, and adapt their thinking based on input from others.
Key features of relational dialogue include:
Empathy: Understanding and valuing others’ perspectives.
Mutual Respect: Ensuring every participant’s contributions are acknowledged and treated with dignity.
Collaborative Inquiry: Engaging in joint problem-solving and critical reflection to address complex issues.
Reflexivity: Encouraging participants to consider how their own beliefs and assumptions influence their interactions and learning processes.
In this study, relational dialogue was observed in classroom discussions, where students were encouraged to share their ideas, question assumptions, and collectively solve problems as part of the STEAM activities. This dialogic engagement facilitated the development of critical thinking by enabling students to internalize diverse viewpoints and apply reflective reasoning to real-world challenges.
Based on these findings, this study provides actionable insights for teachers, policymakers, and educational practitioners to enhance the effectiveness of STEAM education, particularly in post-pandemic contexts. The following implications for educational practice are based on the findings and analysis of this research:
Foster Dialogic Learning Environments: Teachers should prioritize the development of dialogic spaces where students feel safe to express their thoughts, ask questions, and critique ideas. Structured opportunities for open dialogue promote collaborative problem-solving and the internalization of critical thinking dispositions. This approach is particularly valuable in culturally diverse and marginalized settings.
Provide Targeted Teacher Training: Effective implementation of STEAM education requires teachers to adopt interdisciplinary methods and relational teaching practices. Professional development programs should include training on dialogic pedagogy, collaborative lesson design, and the integration of arts into STEM subjects to enhance creativity and critical thinking.
Integrate Relational Approaches into Curriculum Design: STEAM curricula should emphasize relational and collaborative learning strategies. Including activities that require teamwork, peer feedback, and shared problem-solving can help students develop critical thinking in real-world contexts.
Promote Equity in Resource Allocation: Policymakers must ensure equitable access to resources, such as technological tools, teacher training, and materials for STEAM activities. Special attention should be given to marginalized communities where such resources are often limited, to ensure inclusive and sustainable educational opportunities.
Encourage Partnerships Between Schools and Communities: Collaborative initiatives involving local universities, social service programs, and community organizations can enrich STEAM education. This study highlights the benefits of engaging university students as mentors and collaborators in classroom settings.
Adapt to Emergency Contexts: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for flexible educational models. Policymakers and educators should develop contingency plans, including hybrid and online STEAM activities, to maintain continuity of learning during crises. Incorporating simulation tools and virtual collaboration platforms can sustain engagement and critical thinking development in such situations.
Measure Impact Systematically: Educational initiatives should include robust assessment mechanisms to evaluate the impact of STEAM activities on critical thinking and other learning outcomes. Instruments like the EDUCATE INSIGHT Thinking Mindset test can be adapted to assess progress effectively.
By implementing these recommendations, stakeholders can enhance the relevance and impact of STEAM education, fostering critical thinking skills and preparing students for the challenges of the 21st century.
Our exploration unveiled the profound potential that lies within the cultivation of relational dialogue. Students have showcased the ability to not only embrace a reflective mindset but also internalize its essence through participating with relevant peers. This process of appropriation can be seen as a step in the right direction, pointing toward a transformative educational landscape where learners develop not just academic achievement, but also a profound belief in their capacity for solving problems together, based on the informed assessment of alternatives, and their capacity to reach agreements, trusting in each other’s judgments.
In essence, our journey underscored the intricate nature of establishing and sustaining relational dialogue. The path to engendering trust and dialogue is strewn with challenges that can vary based on the cultural, social, and institutional fabric of each educational setting. As demonstrated by the analyzed data in this article, not all schools developed the same level of collaboration and relational dialogue as School D did. And that is why it was considered valuable to share which specific practices and elements made this school stand out when compared to others that were handed the same lesson plans and materials. In the end, we observed that trust and dialogue mainly was a product of the extra effort, attention, and availability of the high school teachers and their direct collaborators, as well as from the social service students, who ultimately played a key role in making the students feel like they were learning in a safe space where they could express their concerns, interests and hopes for the future.
Considering these findings, our project lays the foundation for future inquiries that could enrich our understanding of how to facilitate dialogue and trust-building within learning communities. Enquiring deeper into the intricacies of strategies aimed at fostering trust and dialogue holds the promise of refining our approaches to constructing educational spaces that empower students to embrace a relational approach to the development of critical thinking. As we embark on these future lines of research, we will continue navigating the delicate interplay between relational dialogue, critical thinking, and STEAM education, with the collective aspiration to mold a more enlightened and empowered society.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all higher education students participating in this project, attuning to the needs of high school teachers and students, as well as for their help in creating educational materials and collecting data. Thanks to Lay-Wah Carolina Ching Chiang, Enrique Cortés Meraz, Eugenia Gómez Wolffer, Alejandra Álvarez Ayala, Pablo de Jesús Arreguín Ortega, Fabiola Denisse Rodríguez Oyervides, Anna Laura Ortega González, Kamtien Alejandro Ching Chiang, María José Abrego Ortega, Marisol Rey Castillo, María Emilia Espejo Mancillas, Ricardo Cantú Caffarel, David Santamaría Cid De León, Adriana Armstrong Rábago Alejandra Álvarez Ayala, Olimpya Jhareth Mondragón González, Camila García Vargas, Alejandro Roura Navarro, and Cristina Mariana Viehmann. We are also thankful of the statistical support provided by Claudia Zubieta Ramírez and Valeria Cantú González for the quantitative analysis of this study.
Ethical Approval
This research did not create distress or harm to participants and only involved the study of educational practices conducted in educational and at-home settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study complies with the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct of the American Psychological Association, Section 8.05. Ethical approval from Tecnológico de Monterrey was not required when the study was conducted.
Informed Consent
All the relevant permissions were obtained from local and state educational authorities, including informed consents and authorizations for accessing schools, and collaborating with teachers and students.
Author Contributions
Juan Manuel Fernández-Cárdenas contributed to the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, supervision, visualization, and writing of the original draft and revisions. Irais Monserrat Santillán-Rosas contributed to the methodology, data curation, formal analysis, validation, and writing of the original draft and revisions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The study High STEAM: Educación transformadora a través de la ciencia, tecnología y artes en comunidades marginadas en Monterrey was funded by a US Department of State grant, number S-MX530-21-GR-0025. Thanks to the support of the US Consulate in Monterrey.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.