STEM Education in Early Childhood: A Review of Empirical Studies

Wan, Zhi Hong; Jiang, Yushan; Zhan, Ying

doi:10.1080/10409289.2020.1814986

Cited by 72 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Meanwhile, constructivist learning paradigms have been largely promoted in school education since the past two decades (Luk et al, 2006 ; Jong et al, 2010 ; Song et al, 2017 ; Bower and Jong, 2020 ). Instead of using conventional didactic teaching approaches, successful STEM education programs usually adopt constructivist student-centered approaches with a strong emphasis on learners' active participation (Ulger, 2018 ; Wan et al, 2021 ; Weng et al, 2022 ). Integrating community service learning (Yorio and Ye, 2012 ; Chiva-Bartoll et al, 2020 ) with STEM education, where learners apply what they learn to provide solutions to the problems in their communities, is considered an innovative and constructivist approach (Collins et al, 2020 ; Marcus et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Secondary Students' Twenty-First Century Skills and STEM Career Interests Through a Crossover Program of STEM and Community Service Education

et al. 2022

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STEM education has been regarded as an important educational initiative for cultivating students' twenty-first century skills. The present work aimed to explore ways to promote students' twenty-first century skills through an integrated STEM-based curriculum. Specifically, we designed and implemented an 8-week crossover program of STEM and community service education. In this program, students learned about STEM domain knowledge and community service issues. They then applied the knowledge to solve authentic problems faced by Hong Kong community-housing residents from disadvantaged groups. A mixed-method approach was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in enhancing students' twenty-first century skills and attitudes, including (i) creative thinking, (ii) collaboration, (iii) perseverance, as well as their (iv) STEM career interests. The research participants were 121 secondary students from a government-subsidized school. The quantitative results showed that the participants' creative thinking, collaboration, and perseverance improved alongside their STEM career interests. These findings were further supported by the data gathered through focus-group interviews. This study provides theoretical and practical insights into the integration of STEM education with community service learning.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting Secondary Students' Twenty-First Century Skills and STEM Career Interests Through a Crossover Program of STEM and Community Service Education

et al. 2022

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“…Aside from a lack of knowledge, some early childhood education teachers face a variety of practical challenges related to the availability of adequate time, media, and resource support. As a result, they lack confidence in implementing STEM lessons in early childhood (Wan et al, 2021). An application called M-Steam with Smart Devices has been developed to assist teachers in Korea in implementing STEAM education (Kim et al, 2018).…”

Section: Steam Education In Early Childhood Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teachers in Indonesia have followed in the footsteps of teachers in Europe who have used objects found around their children as STEAM learning media (Haughey & Hill, 2018). The use of secondhand goods as learning media can also help children develop creative attitudes toward environmental issues (Wan et al, 2021). Early childhood creativity emerges as a result of STEAM learning, which encourages them to create something new from objects around them rather than being associated with books (Wan et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the challenge is that teachers' ability to implement STEAM learning still needs to be improved so that STEAM education is of high quality (Yang et al, 2021). Several studies have revealed that prospective or teachers require training to implement STEAM education in early childhood (Moghal et al, 2020;Sawangmek, 2019;Wan et al, 2021). Given that Indonesia started promoting the use of the STEAM model in early childhood education institutions in 2018, it is necessary to investigate teacher knowledge and experience with STEAM education for teachers who have attended professional education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring The Knowledge And Experience Of Childhood Education Teachers On Steam Education In Indonesia

Sit¹

2022

kuey

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This study investigates early childhood teachers' knowledge and experiences with STEAM education after participating in STEAM learning training in professional education in Indonesia. The research participants were 51 teachers who had completed professional education and worked in raudhatul athfal, or Islamic kindergartens. Participants completed a test consisting of thirteen knowledge items in the form of closed questions and group interviews to describe teachers' experiences implementing STEAM education. The findings show that after attending training, teachers' knowledge of STEAM education increases, and teachers have experience in selecting the best method, affordable media, and collaborating with material experts in STEAM learning. Teachers also stated that they required the availability of learning media and learning collaborators. Despite having received professional education, the majority of early childhood education teachers in Indonesia require the availability of media and collaborators in STEAM education, according to the findings of this study. The implications and recommendations for the future are also discussed.

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“…A review of empirical studies about STEM education in early childhood education developed by Wan, Jiang and Zhan points in the same direction, stating that 'early childhood teachers perceived the values of STEM education from the learning and social perspectives while they realized various practical constrains of time, support and resources, and worries about the teachers' capacity and subject knowledge, and considered students, developmental differences and safety. They were not confident to implement STEM lessons with their young students' [5] (p. 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Spontaneous Cooperation between Children in Automata Construction Workshops

et al. 2021

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This work analyzes spontaneous cooperation between children who participated in Automata for STEM, European Union funded Erasmus+ project workshops. Taking into account the characteristics of automata, that involve a narrative part and a mechanism, the project used them to implement contextualized and interdisciplinary STEM activities. The pedagogical method involved the presentation of automata, and children being challenged to plan and construct their own. Although no cooperative learning strategies were imposed during the workshops, this research aimed to identify types of spontaneous cooperation that could emerge among children. Data was gathered through participant observation and a questionnaire. Core dimensions of spontaneous cooperation were identified as well as specific dimensions, pointing to a divergent type, characterized by involvement between pairs of children in different projects, and to another type, convergent, involving work between pairs of children in the same project. Spontaneous cooperation also varied according to the children’s age or the workshop structure. During workshops with children aged 6–7 years, the class teacher was present and provided guidance, the children were seated in pairs or in a presentation arrangement. During workshops for older children of 8–9 years of age, there was less guidance and the class teacher sometimes was not even in the room the children worked at round tables.

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STEM Education in Early Childhood: A Review of Empirical Studies

Cited by 72 publications

References 52 publications

Promoting Secondary Students' Twenty-First Century Skills and STEM Career Interests Through a Crossover Program of STEM and Community Service Education

Promoting Secondary Students' Twenty-First Century Skills and STEM Career Interests Through a Crossover Program of STEM and Community Service Education

Exploring The Knowledge And Experience Of Childhood Education Teachers On Steam Education In Indonesia

Mapping Spontaneous Cooperation between Children in Automata Construction Workshops

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