The Handbook of Research on STEM Education represents a groundbreaking and comprehensive synthesis of research and presentation of policy within the realm of science, technology, engineering, and ...mathematics (STEM) education. What distinguishes this Handbook from others is the nature of integration of the disciplines that is the founding premise for the work—all chapters in this book speak directly to the integration of STEM, rather than discussion of research within the individual content areas.
The Handbook of Research on STEM Education explores the most pressing areas of STEM within an international context. Divided into six sections, the authors cover topics including: the nature of STEM, STEM learning, STEM pedagogy, curriculum and assessment, critical issues in STEM, STEM teacher education, and STEM policy and reform. The Handbook utilizes the lens of equity and access by focusing on STEM literacy, early childhood STEM, learners with disabilities, informal STEM, socio-scientific issues, race-related factors, gender equity, cultural-relevancy, and parental involvement. Additionally, discussion of STEM education policy in a variety of countries is included, as well as a focus on engaging business/industry and teachers in advocacy for STEM education.
The Handbook’s 37 chapters provide a deep and meaningful landscape of the implementation of STEM over the past two decades. As such, the findings that are presented within provide the reader with clear directions for future research into effective practice and supports for integrated STEM, which are grounded in the literature to date.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) integration is a desired outcome according to Next Generation Science Standards. However, learning to teach integrated STEM content has been ...challenging for teachers. Consequently, the purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how 16 preservice teachers enrolled in a mathematics methods course created integrated STEM lesson plans that incorporated an authentic engineering problem. Content analysis of the completed integrated STEM lesson plans used the Quality K‐12 Engineering Education Framework to identify any characteristics of engineering. We found that 15 of 16 preservice teachers demonstrated at least an emerging ability to create an integrated STEM lesson that contained an engineering problem, constraints, a prototype or model, model testing, and data collection and analysis related to the model. We concluded that giving preservice teachers opportunities to experience engineering design problems could better prepare them to design and implement integrated STEM education in their classrooms. The findings from this study have practical implications for mathematics methods teacher educators who teach the pedagogy behind STEM education. This study also has theoretical implications because socially situated learning theory was extended to Model‐Eliciting Activities and connected them to the K‐12 Framework for Quality Engineering Education.
Background
Informal learning environments increase students’ interest in STEM (e.g., Mohr‐Schroeder et al. School Sci Math 114: 291–301, 2014) and increase the chances a student will pursue a STEM ...career (Kitchen et al. Sci Educ 102: 529–547, 2018). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an informal STEM summer learning experience on student participants, to gain in-depth perspectives about how they felt this experience prepared them for their in-school mathematics and science classes as well as how it influenced their perception of STEM learning. Students’ attitudes and perceptions toward STEM are affected by their motivation, experience, and self-efficacy (Brown et al. J STEM Educ Innov Res 17: 27, 2016). The academic and social experiences students’ have are also important. Traditionally, formal learning is taught in a solitary form (Martin Science Education 88: S71–S82, 2004), while, informal learning is brimming with chances to connect and intermingle with peers (Denson et al. J STEM Educ: Innovations and Research 16: 11, 2015).
Results
We used a naturalistic inquiry, phenomenological approach to examine students’ perceptions of STEM while participating in a summer informal learning experience. Data came from students at the summer informal STEM learning experiences at three diverse institutions across the USA. Data were collected from reflection forms and interviews which were designed to explore students’ “lived experiences” (Van Manen
1990
, p. 9) and how those experiences influenced their STEM learning. As we used a situative lens to examine the research question of how participation in an informal learning environment influences students’ perceptions of STEM learning, three prominent themes emerged from the data. The informal learning environment (a) provided context and purpose to formal learning, (b) provided students opportunity and access, and (c) extended STEM content learning and student engagement.
Conclusions
By using authentic STEM workplaces, the STEM summer learning experience fostered a learning environment that extended and deepened STEM content learning while providing opportunity and access to content, settings, and materials that most middle level students otherwise would not have access to. Students also acknowledged the access they received to hands-on activities in authentic STEM settings and the opportunities they received to interact with STEM professionals were important components of the summer informal learning experience.
It is a well‐known fact that, in general, many students have a lack of interest and proficiency in mathematics and science. Therefore, it is imperative that we prepare and inspire all students, ...specifically students of underrepresented populations, to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content. Now in its fourth year, See Blue STEM Camp was created in order to expose middle‐level students to a variety of STEM fields and STEM professionals through hands‐on project‐based learning experiences in order to increase their interest in STEM. This paper describes the structure and the activities of the camp. In this innovative project, we utilized an embedded mixed methods study design to investigate the extent middle level students' attitudes, perceptions, and interest in and toward STEM fields and careers changed after participating in an informal learning environment of a five‐day day camp held on the campus of a major university in the mid‐south. The results revealed an increase in their motivation and interest in STEM fields; in fact, there was 3% increase from pre to post in interest in STEM careers. The data also revealed that a majority of the participating middle school students found the STEM content sessions “fun” and engaging, specifically citing the hands‐on experiences they received.
We introduce a conceptual framework of K-12 STEM literacy that rightfully and intentionally positions each and every student, particularly minoritized groups, as belonging in STEM. In order to ...conceptualize the equity-based framework of STEM literacy, we conducted a systematic review of literature related to STEM literacy, which includes empirical studies that contribute to STEM literacy. The literature on the siloed literacies within STEM (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics literacy) also contributed to formulate the necessity of and what it means to develop STEM literacy. The Equity-Oriented STEM Literacy Framework illuminates the complexities of disrupting the status quo and rightfully transforming integrated STEM education in ways that provide equitable opportunities and access to all learners. The Equity-Oriented STEM Literacy Framework is a research-based, equity and access-focused framework that will guide research, inform practice, and provide a lens for the field that will ensure each and every student, especially minoritized students, develop, and are developing STEM literacy.
When students feel successful, they tend to be more confident in their capabilities (i.e., higher self-efficacy), which is associated with improved performance, engagement, and self-regulation. Yet, ...the way in which learners interpret their experiences is less well-understood. Learners’ views of failure (i.e., failure mindset) are potential lenses through which early adolescent learners perceive and interpret efficacy-relevant information. The relationship between failure mindset and self-efficacy may be particularly important to consider in STEM-related domains like robotics where failure is common. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between young adolescents’ failure mindset and their robotics self-efficacy development. Using mixed methods, we considered how students’ reported failure mindset levels were related to what has made them more or less confident in robotics. We also considered the relationship between failure mindset and robotics self-efficacy. Overall, the findings suggest that early adolescent learners’ failure mindset is related to the efficacy-relevant information they pay attention to in robotics, and, in turn, is associated with their reported robotics self-efficacy. The details of these relationships varied between elementary and middle school students. As there is a social push to normalize failures in educational settings, findings from this study offer an important insight into how students may interpret those failures.
This paper examines how 17 secondary mathematics teacher candidates (TCs) in four university teacher preparation programs implemented technology in their classrooms to teach for conceptual ...understanding in online, hybrid, and face to face classes during COVID-19. Using the Professional Development: Research, Implementation, and Evaluation (PrimeD) framework, TCs, classroom mentor teachers, field experience supervisors, and university faculty formed a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) to discuss a commonly agreed upon problem of practice and a change idea to implement in the classroom. Through Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, participants documented their improvement efforts and refinements to the change idea and then reported back to the NIC at the subsequent monthly meeting. The Technology Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (TPACK) and the TPACK levels rubric were used to examine how teacher candidates implemented technology for Mathematics conceptual understanding. The Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP2) was used to further examine how effective mathematics teaching practices (e.g., student engagement) were implemented by TCs. MCOP2 results indicated that TCs increased their use of effective mathematics teaching practices. However, growth in TPACK was not significant. A relationship between TPACK and MCOP2 was not evident, indicating a potential need for explicit focus on using technology for mathematics conceptual understanding.
The purpose of this study was to investigate parents’ attitudes toward mathematics, their students' attitude toward mathematics, and the influence of the parents’ attitude on the students' attitude ...toward mathematics. Data analyses revealed statistically significant positive correlations between parents’ and students’ attitudes toward mathematics. Additionally, parents’ mathematics attitude significantly predicted students’ attitudes toward mathematics (n=146). By understanding the influence of parents’ attitudes on students’ attitudes toward mathematics, school efforts can be geared toward fostering favorable attitudes toward mathematics among parents.
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