Effects of Science, Mathematics, and Informatics Convergence Education on Creative Problem-solving

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution led to accelerated development and promotion of software (SW) usage in various fields. SW has been integrated into various areas to address multiple problems. As the importance of SW convergence increased, the need for SW convergence talent concomitantly increased. Korea implemented the “Science, Mathematics and Information Education Promotion Act” in 2018 to cultivate SW convergence talents. The Act includes not only the promotion of individual subjects but also science, mathematics, and information convergence education (SMICE). With the Act's enforcement, education programs for SMICE have been formulated. A study analyzed student satisfaction and perception regarding SMICE, but its effect on student education was not analyzed. Therefore, the present study analyzed the effects of SMICE on middle school students. The subjects comprised 163 middle school students who were divided into experimental and control groups. The control (n=83) received general informatics education. The experimental group (n=80) received both informatics education and SMICE. Creative problem-solving (CPS), a common competency of the three subjects, was selected as the test factor to analyze the educational effect. Changes in student CPS were examined using pre-and post-tests. The results showed no difference in the pre-test CPS between the experimental and control groups. The post-test results showed that the experimental group had higher CPS than the control. Notably, there was a significant increase in problem discovery and analysis, idea generation, persuasion, and communication metrics. These findings demonstrated that SMICE is effective in the CPS development of middle school students.