Examining Science and Technology/Engineering Educators’ Views of Teaching Biomedical Concepts Through Physical Computing

Abstract

Programming and automation continue to evolve rapidly and advance the capabilities of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, physical computing (the integration of programming and interactive physical devices) integrated within biomedical contexts remains an area of limited focus in secondary STEM education programs. As this is an emerging area, many educators may not be well prepared to teach physical computing concepts within authentic biomedical contexts. This shortcoming provided the rationale for this study, to examine if professional development (PD) had a noticeable influence on high school science and technology and engineering (T&E) teachers’ (1) perceptions of teaching biomedical and computational thinking (CT) concepts and (2) plans to integrate physical computing within the context of authentic biomedical engineering challenges. The findings revealed a significant difference in the amount of biomedical and CT concepts that teachers planned to implement as a result of the PD. Using a modified version of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-A) Riggs and Enochs in Science Education, 74 (6), 625–637 ( 1990 ), analyses revealed significant gains in teachers’ self-efficacy toward teaching both biomedical and CT concepts from the PD. Further analyses revealed that teachers reported increases in their perceived knowledge of biomedical and CT concepts and a significant increase in their intent to collaborate with a science or T&E educator outside of their content area. This study provides implications for researchers and educators to integrate more biomedical and physical computing instruction at the secondary education level.

Examining pre‐service elementary educators' perceptions of teaching science when integrated with poetry

“…Other researchers have also found the STEBI-B to have strong reliability (Fenton & Essler-Petty, 2019;Plourde, 2002;Utley et al, 2005) and validity (Chan & Lay, 2018;Yesilyurt et al, 2021) measures when used with PSTs. The STEBI has been widely used in science education and slightly modified for recent studies with an interdisciplinary focus encompassing STEAM topics (Love, 2017a(Love, , 2017b(Love, , 2022Love et al, 2023;Nadelson et al, 2012;Yesilyurt et al, 2021;Yoon & Kim, 2017).…”

“…The pre-survey items had acceptable reliability measures (all items, α = 0.857; SE items, α = 0.866; EO items, α = 0.781), as did the post-survey items (all items, α = 0.773; SE items, α = 0.763; EO items, α = 0.731). Previous studies that made minor modifications to the STEBI-B conducted similar reliability tests (Fenton & Essler-Petty, 2019;Love, 2017aLove, , 2022Love et al, 2023;Plourde, 2002;Utley et al, 2005).…”

Teacher Education for National Development Using Google Meet: Issues and Prospects

“…These platforms enable the delivery of educational content, facilitate interactive discussions, and enable collaborative learning experiences, regardless of geographical barriers. The flexibility and accessibility of these platforms have revolutionized the way education is imparted, making it possible for students and educators to connect and engage remotely (Love et al, 2023). Figure 1 shows an overview of the "Google Meet" classroom.…”

A Physical Computing Professional Development Study: Examining Differences in Male and Female Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computing (Evaluation, Diversity)

“…This collaboration time was found to be very beneficial in other integrative STEM PD studies. [4,38]. Future physical computing PD studies should examine differences between elementary and secondary teachers' perceptions of computing while accounting for certifications, content area taught, prior PD experiences, and other characteristics.…”

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Current P-12 science [1] and engineering education [2] standards call for the integration of computational thinking (CT) within authentic, design-based engineering contexts [3][4][5]. Physical computing has been proposed as a viable option for applying CT concepts through the engineering design process [6][7][8].

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