STEM Education for Disadvantaged Students: Teacher and Student Experiences

Abstract

STEM education is based on interrelated and holistic teaching of the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is important to ensure that STEM education does not address a certain category of society only but that it is also applied to disadvantaged segments of society. The aim of the present study is to identify the opinions of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and their teachers about STEM education experience. The study was planned according to the case study model. The participants of the research consisted of a teacher and 34 Grade-8 students studying in a regional boarding school (RBS) in a northern province of Turkey. In the study, a unit (Living Beings and Life) within the scope of 8th grade science course was planned in accordance with STEM education. The data of the study were collected through student diaries and the field notes taken by the teacher. The data obtained from student diaries were subjected to content analysis, and the field notes were analysed with descriptive analysis. It was determined that the RBS students evaluated STEM-focused activities and the related applications in terms of their contributions to their learning process, 21st-century skills, their perceptions about STEM disciplines and the development of their career awareness on STEM fields. The results obtained from the teachers' field notes showed that the students' participation and group work skills increased, that the students had fun and became motivated in the course, and that they experienced an improvement in their skills of associating what they learned with their daily life, solving problems and designing and in their engineering awareness.

Comparison of science teachers' thoughts on face-to-face and online STEM-based activities

“…In the preliminary stage of face-to-face education, while teachers prepare a STEM lesson plan, want to reach materials from close quarters, and try to adapt to the physical conditions of the classroom environment, students are encouraged to use the opportunities offered by Web 2.0 technological tools in online education. Similar results are seen in the literature (Bolatli and Korucu, 2018;Bozkurt Altan and Ercan, 2016;Çalış 2020;Sias et al, 2017; In this situation, it is seen that teachers try to make STEM applications based on the learning environment, students, and their own experiences in both forms of application.…”

STEM, iSTEM, and STEAM: What is next?

“…Bozkurt Altan & Köroğlu, 2019 drew attention to the incompetency of STEM fields to social injustices and how we can implement STEM in a social justice framework. The study suggested a need for professional development for teachers in STEM education and also the development of action plans for disadvantaged groups by STEM-educated teachers (Bozkurt et al, 2019). Furthermore, the research emphasizes the funding for future STEM education research and STEM-focused activities for disadvantaged groups (Bozkurt et al, 2019) so they can enjoy the benefits of STEM education.…”

“…The study suggested a need for professional development for teachers in STEM education and also the development of action plans for disadvantaged groups by STEM-educated teachers (Bozkurt et al, 2019). Furthermore, the research emphasizes the funding for future STEM education research and STEM-focused activities for disadvantaged groups (Bozkurt et al, 2019) so they can enjoy the benefits of STEM education. Yet numerous studies have indicated a lack of interest and motivation among students towards STEM fields or "STEM pipeline" created a global concern (Sanders, 2009;Kelley & Knowles, 2016) that require the researcher and developers to look deeply into the STEM framework to find and solve the STEM-related problem.…”