A Meta-Summary of Qualitative Findings about STEM Education

Abstract

The purpose of this meta-summary study is to determine the preponderance findings about the contribution of STEM education to the dimensions of the science curriculum and the learning-teaching process, its limitations and applicability by bringing together the studies that examine the views of teachers and students participating on STEM education. For this purpose, 22 research reports collected according to particular criteria from the literature were included in this meta-summary study. The frequency effect sizes of the data of the research reports were calculated and the frequency effect size was reported to be higher than 15%. As a result of the meta-summary study, 31 expressions were conceptualized under the themes of (i) the contribution of STEM education to knowledge, skills and affective dimension, (ii) contribution of STEM education to Science-Engineering-Technology-Society-Environment context, (iii) contribution of STEM education to learning-teaching process and (iv) the limitations and the recommendations on applicability of STEM education. It was determined that the most important contributions of the STEM education to science curriculum dimensions were as following; (i) appropriate for physics subjects, (ii) developing life skills, (iii) attracting the attention of the students, (iv) creating career awareness and (v) learning by fun.

Stem Embedded in the Dujiangyan Irrigation System: A Descriptive - Interpretive Analysis to Design Stem Course

“…It is clear to see that Mathematics is applied in DIS, as mathematics formula should be used to calculate the proportion and symmetry, and the force of motion of the objects, and to co-control the space and objects. The results of this study are in line with Kanadlı's (2019) suggestion that STEM course design should involve at least two subject areas, and that the four knowledge domains of STEM can be integrated in future education programs. Accordingly, this study has illustrated that Bin Li applied STEM implicitly with the principles of river geology and river dynamics (e.g., erosion and sedimentation, river characteristics, river flow, etc.)…”

Thematic Content Analysis of Doctoral Theses in STEM Education: Turkey Context

“…When the studies in the literature are examined, analysis studies on the biometric analysis of scientific research on STEM (Özkaya, 2019), meta synthesis (Herdem & Ünal, 2018), content analysis (Aydın-Günbatar & Tabar, 2019;Çevik, 2017;Kaleci & Korkmaz, 2018), review (Jayarajah, Saat, Rauf & Amnah, 2014;Tezel & Yaman, 2017;Yılmaz, Gülgün, Çetinkaya & Doğanay, 2018), analysis of qualitative findings (Kanadlı, 2019) and methodological analysis of STEM studies (Özcan & Karabaş, 2019) were carried out. Furthermore, analysis/ meta-analysis of STEM-related experimental studies (Belland, Walker, Kim & Lefler, 2017;van den Hurk, meelissen & van Langen, 2019;, metaanalysis of the impact of STEM on cognitive outcomes (Belland, Walker, Olsen & Leary, 2015) and meta-analysis of STEM-related studies (Kim, Belland & Walker, 2018) were conducted.…”

Integrated STEM Education in K-12: Theory Development, Status, and Prospects

“…Since mathematics and science curriculum have two traditional curricula in K-12 contexts for many years while the term "STEM" is not born until the 1980s, most people regard technology and engineering as applied science, providing real-life learning environment. By this approach, students will transform the knowledge and skills acquired in science and mathematics into an engineering product using technology [32]. That is, STEM education expands the extent of science and mathematics curriculum.…”