The influence of a design-based elective STEM course on pre-service chemistry teachers’ content knowledge, STEM conceptions, and engineering views

Abstract

In this study, we sought to examine the influence of a 12 week design-based elective Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) course on pre-service chemistry teachers’ content knowledge, STEM conceptions, and engineering and engineering design views. To attain the goals determined, we utilized five STEM activities starting with a daily-life problem and an iterative engineering design process to solve the problem. A chemistry test with 11 two-tier items, and interviews focusing on STEM and engineering conceptions were administered at the beginning and at the end of the course. Moreover, a reflection paper was collected after each activity. Eight junior pre-service chemistry teachers participated in the study voluntarily. Deductive and inductive data analyses were used to investigate the influence of the course on participants’ content knowledge, STEM conceptions, and engineering and engineering design views. The results revealed that the design-based STEM course helped pre-service teachers deepen their content knowledge. Additionally, most of the participants defined integrated STEM education as an acronym (n= 6) and very few mentioned the interdisciplinary dimension of STEM education superficially at the beginning (n= 3). At the end, they mentioned interdisciplinary nature as connecting at least two dimensions of STEM, and they emphasized engaging in real-world problems, designing a product or process and inquiry-based and/or problem-based learning. Regarding engineering and engineering design views, a similar development was observed. Although their views were undeveloped or underdeveloped at the beginning, they enriched their views and mentioned defining criteria, creativity and integration to science and mathematics that are characteristics of engineering and design processes. Implications for including STEM courses in pre-service teacher education programs were provided.

Developing Pre-service Teachers Conceptualization of STEM and STEM Pedagogical Practices

“…Besides, because of the inequality between conventional teacher education programs and everyday life, teachers encounter difficulties in finding real-life examples to create a STEM teaching context and implement a flexible STEM curriculum. The primary responsibility for overcoming these problems rests with teacher preparation programs (Aydin-Gunbatar et al, 2018). According to Shernoff et al (2017), teacher education programs need to improve their courses and teach those courses while preparing their pre-service teachers with the knowledge of STEM, effective pedagogy for implementing STEM, and knowledge on STEM literacy, skills, and abilities.…”

The steps of the Engineering Design Process (EDP) in science education: A systematic literature review

“…Additionally, the results of several studies suggest that EDP implementation can increase students' content knowledge (Chao et al 2017;Aydin-Gunbatar, Tarkin-Celikkiran, Kutucu, & Ekiz-Kiran, 2018;, students' problem-solving skills (English, Hudson, & Dawes, 2013;Syukri, Halim, Mohtar, & Soewarno, 2018), as well as teachers' views on the implementation of the engineering design process in their teachings (Pleasants, Olson, & De La Cruz, 2020). Furthermore, Shahali, Halim, Rasul, Osman, and Zulkifeli (2016) explain that EDP implementation can also generate interest in STEM subjects and careers.…”

Türkiye de Gerçekleştirilen STEM Araştırmalarının İçerik Analizi

“…Bütünleşik STEM eğitiminin öğrencilerin hem STEM alanlarına olan ilgisine hem de öğrenmelerine katkıda bulunduğu çalışmalar ile ortaya konulmuştur (Antink-Meyer & Meyer, 2016;Aslan-Tutak, Akaygün, & Tezsezen, 2017;Becker & Park, 2011). Ulusal ve uluslararası alan yazında STEM eğitimlerinin öğretmen adaylarının fen başarılarına (Aydin-Günbatar, Tarkin-Celikkiran, Kutucu, & Ekiz-Kiran, 2018), ilkokul öğrencilerinin elektrik alarm sistemleri konusundaki fen bilgisine (Mehalik, Doppeld, & Shunn, 2008), öğretmen adaylarının bilimsel süreç becerisi gelişimine (Gökbayrak & Karışan, 2017), STEM'e karşı tutumlarına (Yılmaz, Koyunkaya, Güler, & Güzey, 2017), hizmet-öncesi öğretmen eğitimi programı boyunca öğretmen adaylarının STEM yeterliklerine (Murphy & Mancini-Samuelson, 2012), öğretmenlerin (Ring, Dare, Crotty, & Roehrig, 2017) ve öğretmen adaylarının STEM algılarına (Aslan-Tutak, Akaygün, & Tezsezen, 2017;Çınar, Pırasa, Uzun, & Erenler, 2016;Radloff & Guzey, 2016;Guler, Cakiroglu, & Yilmaz-Tuzun, 2017) ve mühendislik bakış açılarına (Aydin-Günbatar, vd., 2018;Gibson, 2012;Purzer, Goldstein, Adams, Xie, & Nourian, 2015) etkisini inceleyen, öğretmenlerin mühendislik tasarım sürecine ilişkin algıları (Hynes, 2012) ve yanlış kavramalarının giderilmesine (Antink-Meyer & Meyer, 2016) ve STEM uygulamalarının bu değişkenlere olumlu etkisini ortaya koyan bir çok çalışma bulunmaktadır.…”