Editorial

The world continues to prioritise STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education because it develops higher-order thinking abilities which prepare learners to handle the complexities of our fast-evolving world. International government policies have steadily supported the advancement of STEM education during the past decades because they recognise its ability to prepare students with essential adaptability and resilience skills for future employment opportunities. However, true interdisciplinary integration within STEM education remains a major challenge to achieve. Despite both broad policy support and international focus, educational outcomes remain affected by continuing problems with STEM integration. STEM education stands as fundamental to workforce preparation because it develops critical thinking and problem solving skills through flexible learning approaches, yet numerous educational systems face challenges when trying to provide cohesive interdisciplinary STEM instruction. To address these existing challenges, research indicates that advancing STEM education requires both innovative pedagogic approaches, inclusion and strong leadership. However, important questions remain: How do existing studies illuminate the relationship between leadership and the successful implementation of innovative strategies in STEM integration? How can this relationship be leveraged to improve educational outcomes in STEM? Furthermore, what specific roles do these pedagogic innovations currently play in overcoming challenges in STEM pedagogy, and in what ways can effective leadership amplify their impact progressively? Keywords: STEM Education, Policy Development, STEM Integration, Pedagogy, Educational Leadership, Workforce Readiness, Innovation

ObjectiveThe objective of our work is to provide a model pathway to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) opportunities that students from precollege to community colleges/universities take toward achieving STEM industry positions or graduate school.MethodsThe San Diego MESA Alliance is a student success initiative built on best practices of the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) Program and grant funds. The Alliance team provides essential academic and career development services to students who are interested in STEM fields at the precollege level and who are majoring in STEM fields at the college level. More than 1200 students on the STEM pipeline are served annually. Student support is based on ‘standards’ identified by industry representatives as critical for success. As a result of completing activities that are in line with these standards, students gain career development experience, workforce preparedness, and academic success.ResultsStudents in these programs outperform their peers and standout in job/internship interviews due to their tangible excellence. Evaluation of the standards, implemented by means of student activities, proves that they are effective. The proposed outcomes of our model were either met at or in excess of 100%. These outcomes include the improvement of the retention of STEM students and increase of the number of STEM students graduating with B.S degreesConclusionThe San Diego MESA Alliance model pathway to (STEM) opportunities is a system that works. We recommend it for nationwide adoption in our efforts to maintain a strong STEM presence in the world.

Technology skills are critical for workforce readiness and are a key predictor of job success. What does it mean to be workforce ready? To answer this question, definitions of workforce readiness and methods used to measure it are examined. Application of these definitions and methods reveals substantial gaps in the national level of work force readiness. These gaps are manifest when students leave school and persist until they retire from the job market. In the National Evaluation Technology Plan (NETP), the Department of Education proposes five (5) goals to address this deficiency. In this paper, these goals are used to conceptualize solutions to improve teaching and learning outcomes related to workforce and college readiness. Solutions are sought that extend the reach and delivery of educational experiences by leveraging ways youth use technology in their everyday life. The authors share lessons they learned using and teaching technology at the Academy of Information Technology (AITE) High School. AITE is an inter-district public, college preparatory, magnet high school that offers its students a technology-rich learning environment. Its culture and climate fosters innovation that goes beyond the classroom. For example, a collaborative effort with AITE led to the creation of an online learning program — Best We Can Be — that engenders learning by facilitating supportive interpersonal networks between students, teachers, mentors, and peers, and by enabling personalized delivery of educational content. Other types of technology based learning experiences — such as robotics clubs — are used to engage students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines and to encourage exploration of challenging subject matter while developing critical workforce readiness skills.

Closing the loop to shift the default: How alternative ways of knowing can inform research and pedagogical practice

The importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines for the future economic and social well-being of all Australians cannot be underestimated: 75% of the fastest growing global occupations require STEM skills and knowledge (Becker and Park in J STEM Edu 12(6), 2011). Increased participation in STEM-related tertiary education is fundamental to the economic and social well-being of the individual and the nation, yet the number and capacity of STEM graduates Australia produced from tertiary institutions is inadequate (OECD in Over-qualified or under-skilled: A review of existing literature. OECD, Paris, 2011). Attracting and retaining STEM tertiary students will rely upon approaches to learning and teaching that engage, motivate and inspire more diverse cohorts. As the Australian Chief Scientist notes: STEM disciplines are critical engines of innovation and growth. The future of the Australian economy will be underpinned by the number and calibre of STEM graduates and the academic staff leading them. We are at present falling short: something different has to be done, demanding a paradigm shift (Office of the Chief Scientist, Australia, 2012). This chapter discusses a recent initiative The RMIT Inclusive Teaching and Assessment Practices Project which was created to address the diverse needs of all learners across the university.

Despite growing awareness of the importance of incorporating integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning into K‐12 education, formal classroom implementation still faces obstacles. Teachers lack the knowledge and skills, especially design‐thinking competence, required to design an interdisciplinary STEM curriculum. The goal of this study was to investigate different scaffolding modes that may influence the design‐thinking competence development of STEM teachers. Twenty‐four preservice teachers participated in this study, which was carried out in an online STEM preservice teacher training environment. The participants were assigned to six groups of two cohorts. Each group designed a STEM learning module. To support their online design meetings, the three groups from the static scaffolding cohort (SSC) received pre‐defined guiding questions, while the other three groups from the adaptive scaffolding cohort (ASC) received contingent scaffolding from a human tutor. The Log data on the participants’ conversations in the design meetings were collected and analysed using the epistemic network analysis (ENA) approach. The results revealed that the SSC and ASC had divergent design‐thinking development trajectories and established distinct design‐thinking patterns. Conversation analysis of the two cohorts confirmed the findings of the ENA analysis and provided evidence that the two scaffolding modes can help address challenges to collaborative STEM learning design and cultivate design‐thinking competence from different perspectives. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Integrated and interdisciplinary STEM curriculum should be incorporated into K‐12 education. Teachers lack the design‐thinking competence required to design an integrated and interdisciplinary STEM curriculum. What this paper adds Static scaffolding and adaptive scaffolding help STEM preservice teachers to develop process‐oriented and result‐oriented design‐thinking patterns, respectively. STEM preservice teachers present divergent design‐thinking development trajectories during collaborative STEM learning design under these two scaffolding modes. Implications for practice and/or policy Integrated STEM learning design should leverage the complexity in the design process and creativity in the design solutions. Different scaffolding modes can complement each other in support of design‐thinking competence development in collaborative STEM learning design practice.

Background and Purpose: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in the formal school curriculum can be described as a STEM-related individual subject; as a learning package offering learning pathway for STEM elective subjects and as an integrated STEM learning approach. This study focuses on the needs assessment of STEM education as a learning approach among lower secondary school teachers in a local district in Malaysia. The current and desired situations were analysed as well as the causal factors which guide the choice of any intervention programs to address the actual needs.
 
 Methodology: Three schools were selected through heterogenous purposive sampling. The teachers from each school were selected through criterion sampling based on predetermined criteria. 31 teachers from the lower secondary level who teach STEM related subjects as well as the head of panel and departments of the STEM subjects, were selected as the participants. Focus group and one-to-one interviews were conducted with the participants after receiving their consent.
 
 Findings: There is a gap between the desired situation and the current situation in the implementation of integrated STEM education. The implementation of STEM education at the lower secondary level can be facilitated through various means such as a comprehensive STEM education professional development or training for teachers, collaborations between STEM subjects teachers through lesson studies or professional learning community, and working together with local STEM expertise or community of practice.
 
 Contributions: The findings provide relevant information and guidance on the selection of intervention for the integrated STEM education in addressing the needs. It also initiates the planning of the integrated STEM education programs which focuses on the gaps as the means to achieve the desired results.
 
 Keywords: STEM education, needs assessment, case study, gap, interventions
 
 Cite as: Loh, S. L., Pang, V., & Lajium, D. (2021). A case study of needs assessment of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in lower secondary schools. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(1), 242-264. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp242-264

This paper discusses the ongoing processes and challenges for designing an introductory undergraduate STEM Education course, as informed by the perspectives of two administrators and eleven instructors who have taught the course repeatedly, including its revisions and modifications. After four years of multiple iterations, we consider our course to be an innovative cornerstone of the undergraduate education program for several reasons including: 1) an intentional course design focus on deepening student's engagement in science, mathematics, engineering and technology content through innovations in pedagogy and inquiry approaches and, 2) a course planning process that engages instructors in continuous conversations about how to rethink and reshape current models of STEM education within authentic ecologies of research, design and connections with real-world sociotechnical contexts beyond the acquisition of technical skills. The course invites a rethinking of how STEM education can be envisioned as transdisciplinary inquiry approaches for understanding issues and problems in the inhabited world. Judging by the positive experiences of most students in the program and the increasing quality of student's final assignments and projects each year, our appraisal of the course, is very positive. Collectively, the instructional team's capacity as STEM educators has strengthened and deepened over time. We have successfully created a team of joint inquirers and developed an atmosphere of mutual support while still encouraging deep and critical engagement with the STEM Education course work. Now, we are beginning to turn our attention to the observed differences in attitudes between elementary and secondary student teachers towards STEM Education, as reported in this paper. In particular, we noticed how positive the student teachers for the early years and elementary cohorts were compared to the resistance encountered in the student teachers for the secondary cohorts. Unless this resistance is addressed, the secondary cohorts may not be able to align their future teaching in manners consistent with the goals of the education program. To gain insight into this difference, we begin to situate our observations in the traditional perspectives that frame disciplinary identity and systemic structures of schooling.

PurposePublic libraries play a pivotal role in supporting education and literacy. They provide numerous services, activities, collections and resources for education and leisure. Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) is an international renowned public library that provides numerous services for different users worldwide. E-learning is an emergent and promising method for teaching and learning different subjects such as the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The e-learning educational system is quite novel in Africa and the Middle East; hence, this paper presents the whole concept to the reader. In addition, it demonstrates number of e-courses tackling different domains provided by different educational institutions, national and public libraries worldwide.Design/methodology/approachIn 2017, the BA inaugurated its e-learning services to cope with the new educational trend and to consolidate the lifelong learning concept in the community. The author showed special interest to the case of e-learning in the BA, as it is a regional public library. The main idea of this paper is to attract attention toward public libraries as a promising venue for e-learning implementation for general knowledge, library information sciences, soft skills, elementary and informal STEM education. The paper discusses in details e-learning and its characteristics.FindingsIn addition, the paper compares traditional education (face-to-face) with e-learning education, mentions both their pros and cons and recommends blending the two educational methods as they complement each other. Furthermore, the author has selected a sample of different STEM e-courses (203 different e-courses). These e-courses were selected to assert the possibility of presenting STEM topics in the form of e-courses.Originality/valueThis study would be one of the emergent research studies that connect e-learning to both STEM disciplines and public libraries. Additionally, this research highlights the importance of public libraries and all the services they provide. In the mean time, it shed light on the important and unique role of specialized librarians. Briefly, public libraries with all their resources, services and expert librarians could provide an exceptional e-learning experience to their community and be of great help to educational institutions and organizations.

Understanding core concepts underlying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is an important focus area for students in primary education. However, research showed a number of issues surrounding STEM education undermining its effectivity. These issues pertain to students’ lack of motivation for STEM subjects, the pre- and misconceptions regarding STEM processes, and the application of knowledge and skills in every day practice. Therefore, the STEM learning environment must invite, should illustrate and facilitate learning while removing preconceptions and avoid misconceptions. Furthermore, integrating meaningful, attractive materials can motivate students in STEM subjects. This sets demands on the STEM learning environment to offer students the opportunity to acquire knowledge that can be directly transferred to everyday practice in an easily accessible manner. To this end, we purport that digital learning environments that take a visual approach to STEM processes in which underlying variables can be controlled and manipulated via a computer interface can generate positive STEM learning outcomes. The current study investigated whether highly visual STEM learning environments can represent STEM-concepts and -processes in such a way that students understand how one variable affects the other. One hundred primary school students were recruited as participants for our study conducted in the second half of 2020. They were assigned to two experimental groups and a control group. The first experimental group used the STEM visual learning environment as implemented by the rather innovative Flui.Go digital environment. The second experimental group used a commercial science box. The control group had the tradition form of STEM education. Students’ attitude towards technology, students’ fascination and valuing science, and understanding of science and physics concepts were measured at the start and after the intervention. The findings indicated that the Flui.Go group developed and improved skills that elevated the positive effects provided by using a digital STEM-learning environment and, by means of its highly visualized character, were able to optimize the link between theory and practice. Flui.Go caused a progression in scientific thinking and enhanced the use of a systematic approach in addition to an increased inspiration for science and technology. Flui.Go also motivated students to maintain focus and enthusiasm for a longer period of time as well as an increased level of involvement and creativity, with productive collaboration and strong responsibility. The findings also revealed that there was for both experimental groups an increase on all dependent variables when compared with the control group. In addition, a significant effect was established due to the influence of Flui.Go on students' attitudes towards technology. This in a direct comparison with students who applied the commercial science box. Finally, Flui.Go established a strong increase in students' fascination and appreciation for science as well as in their understanding of scientific and physical concepts.Our conclusion is that the findings of our study can help teachers to increase their knowledge, skills and pedagogical approach in order to effectively apply and implement digital STEM education using a highly visual environment during their lessons.

UK higher education data has shown persistent differences in degree outcomes for specific student groups. Consequently, the Office for Students (the UK government’s higher education regulator) are funding 17 projects to address these inequalities. Building on its expertise, our institution is leading the IncSTEM project alongside colleagues from two other universities, to evaluate, scale up and promote inclusive teaching and learning practice within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines in higher education.There are challenges with inclusive distance learning, many of which are emphasised in STEM through the prevalence of practical and field activities, the widespread use of groupwork, and the use of text that is rich in symbolic notation. Online and blended learning approaches, including access to digital learning resources, bring opportunities for more inclusive practice, but can also lead to unforeseen and unquantified barriers for students. Integrating an inclusive approach to teaching and learning requires universities to embed and sustain practices that consider the diverse needs of students throughout curriculum design and delivery, bringing benefits to all students.In this paper, we present data on staff perceptions and practices regarding accessibility and inclusion for disabled students, explore examples of inclusive practice, and discuss how these can be applied by practitioners in order to create a higher education environment in which students of all backgrounds and characteristics are able to succeed.

The author highlights major trends of school education in England. The author describes certain factors shaping the trends in education: in particular, there are three factors that affect English education. Different official documents and reports have been analyzed, and major outcomes have been written. The main trends and innovations in English school education are described in the article: crowdsourced classes, cultural immersion, environmental impact, appreciating the arts, human intelligence, digital responsibility, life skills and workforce preparation, innovating pedagogy, computational thinking, student-led learning, collaborative classrooms, connecting guardians and schools, emerging technologies. STEM education has also been described as one of the main trends of school education in England.

This research aims to investigate the relationship between mathematics teachers' knowledge of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and their teaching practice in schools during a STEM professional development program. The study involved 34 Indonesian mathematics vocational high school teachers enrolled in the STEM professional development program. Tests and reports on STEM teaching practices served as data sources for this study. Our finding shows a positive correlation between mathematics teachers' STEM knowledge and how they facilitate STEM project-based learning for their students. We discuss two different points of view to interpret this result. Furthermore, we suggest the need for further research to develop sustainable efforts in strengthening the STEM education interdisciplinary approach for the professional development of mathematics teachers.

Student engagement and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in primary and secondary schools is increasingly being emphasized as the importance of STEM skills for future careers is realized. Localized learning has been identified as a group of pedagogical approaches that may enhance learning in STEM by making the relevance of STEM clear to students and providing stronger connections to students’ lives and contexts. This paper reports on a scoping review that was conducted to identify the benefits and limitations of localized learning in primary and secondary school STEM disciplines. A secondary aim of the review was to identify strategies that increase the effectiveness of localized learning these disciplines. Following literature searches of four databases, 1923 articles were identified. Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Potential benefits of localized learning included increases in enjoyment of STEM, improvements in learning, more positive STEM career aspirations, and development of transferable skills. The main challenges of these pedagogical approaches were time restrictions and lack of community involvement. Strategies for enhancing the impact of localized pedagogy included professional development for teachers (in STEM content knowledge, integration of localized pedagogy, and capacity to address socio-scientific issues), integration of technology, whole-school implementation of the pedagogical approach, and integration of the wider community into STEM education. These findings provide support for localized learning as an effective pedagogical approach to enhance STEM learning in schools, while emphasizing the critical roles of teachers and communities in supporting students to realize the relevance of STEM in their lives.

Despite evidence of quality teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subject domains and insistence on the part of many national governments on the economic value of STEM, education, recruitment and retention into STEM subject fields and occupations is said to be continually blighted by a ‘leaky pipeline’. In the UK context, schools are seen to benefit from a multitude of external STEM engagement and enrichment providers and initiatives. However, despite evidence of the positive impacts of STEM engagement on learners, there exists a dearth of understanding related to how principles of STEM engagement can facilitate STEM teachers in becoming more pedagogically innovative and relevant and, therefore, engaging of their learners in the classroom context. In this article, we employ a secondary data analysis of two prominent cases of public engagement in science and technology (PEST) in the UK to elicit combined lessons for STEM engagement and the pedagogical development of teachers. We consider the successes of science dialogue in establishing principles of best practice that might be transposed to the development of teachers as more able and effective in the engagement of learners in STEM.