A Proposed Taxonomy of Teaching Models in STEM Education: Robotics as an Example

Abstract

Many countries and regions have reached a consensus to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the past decade. A body of studies have demonstrated that the design and organization of interdisciplinary teaching activities are important for the effective implementation of STEM education. So far, however, little attention has been paid to the taxonomy of teaching models in STEM education. This paper aims to propose a taxonomy based on the dimensions of learning outcomes (i.e., product-oriented and knowledge-oriented) and teaching process (i.e., forward teaching model and reverse teaching model) in STEM education. Through the intersection of the above two dimensions, four teaching models in STEM education have emerged, including project-based learning (PBL), reverse engineering (RE), scientific inquiry (SI), and troubleshooting/debugging (T/D). In addition, four cases are introduced to explain how these four teaching models operate in STEM education. The implications of this work for future research are also discussed. It is promising that the study will be valuable to enrich the current research, and shed light on the theory and practice of STEM education.

Effect of Reverse Engineering Pedagogy on Primary School Students’ Computational Thinking Skills in STEM Learning Activities

“… Griffin et al ( 2012 ) took Deconstruction Kits in REP as a tool to attract learners’ attention and to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving ability, and then improved students’ creativity through decomposition and debugging. Zhong et al ( 2022 ) built a blue smart car produced by CFunWorld using REP. In the process of perceiving, observing, breaking down, summarizing, drawing program flow charts, restoring works, redesigning, revising and adjusting, and reflecting, students can develop hands-on skills, algorithmic thinking, critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving through cooperative learning.…”

“…Reverse engineering pedagogy (REP), which was developed for engineering courses, involves knowledge in the field of engineering, mathematics, science, and computers. REP can instruct students to analyze existing works, deduce design parameters and implementation methods, and realize interaction between work groups ( Zhong et al 2022 ). The general teaching process is as follows: starting from a complete work, which can be called a “black box” ( Otto and Wood 1998 ), students discover the design parameters and schemes of the existing work under the guidance of the teacher, and then improve or innovate the work according to the learning objectives.…”

“…The general teaching process is as follows: starting from a complete work, which can be called a “black box” ( Otto and Wood 1998 ), students discover the design parameters and schemes of the existing work under the guidance of the teacher, and then improve or innovate the work according to the learning objectives. Different from the demonstrative method (DM), REP has the following advantages: (1) it helps students to deepen their understanding of scientific concepts and enhance their design ability in practice ( Hess 2000 ); (2) it can improve students’ learning enthusiasm ( Barr et al 2000 ); and (3) it can enhance students’ learning abilities (e.g., creativity, insight, and hands-on skills) ( Grantham et al 2010 ; Zhong et al 2022 ). Therefore, it has good applicability in robot education ( West et al 2015 ; Zhong et al 2020 ).…”

Integrating Computational Thinking Into Scaffolding Learning: An Innovative Approach to Enhance Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Hands-On Learning

“…In this context, STEM education gains prominence, particularly in fostering students' HOTS (Zhong et al, 2022). In all STEM fields, HOTS are integral for effective critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity (Wahono et al, 2020).…”

Mathematics education for relevance, responsiveness, and viability in Africa within the Fourth Industrial Revolution era

“…Robots' capacity to aid in children's education is now widely acknowledged, and their use in educational settings is rising. They support technical courses like programming and non-technical ones such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (Zhong et al 2022). They may even be used to aid in telling stories (Stork 2020) and other creative endeavours.…”