Critical study of stem-based learning in order to develop century skills 21

Abstract

The term STEM was introduced by the United States National Science Foundation (1990) as an abbreviation of “Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics”. In the Indonesian context, STEM refers to four fields of science, namely science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM learning is an approach to learning where Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are learning processes that focus on solving problems in everyday life. Does STEM learning can print students who have 21st century skills in order to solve various problems in everyday life. In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to do research with the title: A critical study of STEM-based learning in order to build 21st century skills. In connection with that, the purpose of this study is to find out how much STEM learning is able to improve student learning outcomes so that they have 21st century skills in order to solve various problems in daily life. This research was conducted through the study of literature as an activity of gathering information that is relevant to the topic that was used as the object of research. Data collection techniques are carried out by conducting a study of a number of reference books and relevant research results. Data analysis techniques are done through descriptive-qualitative techniques with sentences that are easily understood in an effort to get answers to the problems under study, so that an overview of the contribution of STEM learning to student learning outcomes is obtained in order to solve various problems in daily life. The study found that: (1) STEM-based learning is one of the right lessons to prepare skilled human resources to live in the 21st century; (2) STEM-based learning can be integrated with cooperative learning models, Project Based Learning (PBJ), Problem Based Learning (PBL) and other learning models; (3) STEM-based learning can be applied to all levels of education (elementary, secondary and high); and (4) STEM-based learning is useful in the context of developing student careers.