Exploring teacher development courses in the lens of integrated STEM education: A holistic multiple case study

Abstract

Integrated STEM education is essential to ensure a more fair representation of disciplines. Failure to do so may result in incomplete learning about other disciplines under the name of STEM education. The implications on how TDCs should be designed for integrated STEM education are essential for in-class STEM education practices. This study compares the three teacher development courses (TDCs) accomplished to support teachers' professional development (PD) for integrated STEM education in terms of pedagogical knowledge, technological knowledge, and strategy. A holistic multiple-case study design was used in this study. Each TDC was considered a case study, and case-specific analyses were made. The findings obtained for each case were then compared. The first TDC included only computer science teachers and showed us the necessity of interdisciplinary work to enhance integrated STEM education. The second TDC showed that this work could be done by integrating the content knowledge of teachers from different disciplines, but the disadvantages of the second TDC were identifying real-world problems, the lack of response to the engineering approach for science and mathematics teachers, and the rigidity of the collaborative working strategy. In the third TDC, we used the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a resource to identify a real-world problem. Then, we focused on the role and purpose of "T"echnology. Finally, we gave the teachers learning tasks to work collaboratively with teachers in their disciplines first and teachers from other disciplines later. This study shows how a TDC should be designed effectively to support teachers' PD for integrated STEM education.