Critical Opportunities in STEM Education

Developing identities of STEM teachers at emerging STEM schools

“…From this perspective, STEM encompasses the content, skills, and ways of thinking of each of the disciplines, but it also includes an understanding of the interactions between the disciplines and the ways they support and complement each other (Moore et al 2014). Although educators are aware of the role of STEM education as an economic imperative of education (Chesky and Wolfmeyer 2015; Gonzalez and Kuenzi 2012) as well as a pedagogical need to enhance learning (e.g., Lansiquot 2016; Morrison 2006), neither educators nor researchers consistently agree on definitions for K-12 STEM education or best practices for integrated STEM instruction (e.g., Breiner et al 2012). However, some common ground has been found as STEM education has evolved into “a meta-discipline, an integrated effort that removes the traditional barriers between STEM subjects, and instead, focuses on innovation and the applied process of designing solutions to complex contextual problems using current tools and technologies” (Kennedy and Odell 2014, p. 246).…”

“…It is necessary for STEM teachers to understand the concepts, philosophy, and purposes that an integrated STEM approach entails (Chesky and Wolfmeyer 2015; Breiner et al 2012) in order to push forward the STEM experiences in their schools. Therefore, as schools move towards adapting and implementing STEM philosophy, it is necessary to decide if one teacher integrates all STEM disciplines into their classes (Hutchison 2012; Sanders 2009) with all the epistemological constraints associated with each discipline (Williams 2011; Sanders 2009), or whether STEM teachers are disciplinary teachers, one for each subject, who collaborate in harmony, developing and implementing STEM-focused curriculum (Herschbach, 2011; Sanders 2009; Williams 2011).…”

STEM Education as a Concept Borrowing Issue: Perspectives of School Administrators in Turkey

“…According to Vasquez (2015), practitioners and researchers differ in how they define STEM education, as well as in how they utilize disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary lenses to understand the concept. Meanwhile, Chesky and Wolfmeyer (2015) emphasize the need to grasp the philosophies behind mathematics and science education to understand the philosophical background of STEM education and discuss how the traditional, transformational, and constructivist pedagogies take place in the implementation of STEM education. The concept has also been criticized in light of policy borrowing, social justice, and human resource issues in the application of STEM education in schools.…”