Music education as part of the STEAM model: A systematic review

Satu Korpi; Sari Harmoinen; Katja Sutela

doi:10.31129/LUMAT.14.2.3155

Authors

Satu Korpi culty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, Finland https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3802-0158
Sari Harmoinen culty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6121-4879
Katja Sutela culty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, Finland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31129/LUMAT.14.2.3155

Keywords:

interdisciplinary teaching and learning, music education, PRISMA, systematic review, STEAM

Abstract

The aim of this systematic review is to examine the possibilities of incorporating music education into STEAM education. The review was conducted and reported in accordance with the PRISMA statement and examines the ways in which music is used as part of STEAM and the role of music in STEAM processes across different educational contexts. A systematic search was carried out in January 2025 in four databases: EBSCO, Scopus, Pro Quest Social Science Premium Collection, and ScienceDirect. The inclusion criteria comprised peer-reviewed articles, dissertations, and empirical studies published in English between 2015 and 2025 that addressed educational contexts from primary school to higher education and incorporated music education within a STEAM context. Exclusion criteria included studies involving children under primary school age, pedagogical texts, conference presentations, therapeutic contexts, research without musical activities, and publications before 2015. Seventeen studies were selected for the extraction phase, two of which did not fully meet the eligibility criteria: one involved preschool-aged students and one was not peer-reviewed. Due to the limited number of available studies, these were included because they addressed musical activities within STEAM in a school context. The data were analysed using thematic and theory-informed qualitative synthesis, drawing on frameworks of interdisciplinarity, pedagogical integration, and aesthetics. The results indicate that music can be integrated into STEAM in multiple ways, including music theory learning, playing, singing, composing, and bodily musical expression. The role of music ranged from a motivational element supporting learning to a phenomenon under study within the STEAM process. However, not all music-related activities identified in the reviewed studies included aesthetic or creative expression, and the heterogeneity and limited number of studies constrain the generalisability of the findings. The review was not registered.

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