Author(s) :

Sakura Ozaki, Yusuke Nagai.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

This study examined the potential of Japanese origami for STEAM education through questionnaires and two 90-minute hands-on origami workshop sessions conducted at the International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC), with each participant attending one session. In the pre-camp survey (N=45), 76% reported prior origami experience, and overall interest was high, although many participants were uncertain about its educational usefulness in astronomy. Among the 19 workshop participants who completed the post-workshop survey, 74% reported being very satisfied with the workshop, and “concentration” was the most frequently identified cultivated skill. Among the 18 participants whose pre-camp and post-workshop responses were successfully matched, both interest in origami (p<0.001) and perceived educational usefulness in astronomy (p=0.002) increased significantly after the workshop. Free-text responses frequently included engineering-related terminology such as “deployment” and “folding,” suggesting a strong conceptual connection between origami and space-related contexts. Despite limitations including a small sample size and short intervention duration, the findings indicate that origami can enhance motivation and educational understanding in multicultural and time-constrained learning environments. These results support the integration of origami into interdisciplinary STEAM education, particularly in astronomy-related contexts.