Abstract
This study contributes to an integrative view on STEM subjects from an educational point of view. The focus is on the assessment of instructional methods in relation to knowledge processes. By a questionnaire, computer science teachers and mathematics teachers assessed 20 instructional methods in terms of knowledge processes (build, process, apply, transfer, evaluate, and integrate). The findings show that computer science teachers and mathematics teachers differ on the rating of instructional methods. However, the findings also allow a common way of looking at instructional methods by computer science teachers and mathematics teachers. This is an important result for pre- and in-service training programs and for the introduction of computer science as a new school subject.
Highlights
In recent years, national and international initiatives have emerged (Committee on Integrated STEM Education, 2014; Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2013) to strengthen STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects and to improve education in STEM sub-jects
The findings show that computer science teachers and mathematics teachers differ on the rating of instructional methods
It must first be noted that the findings support the research hypothesis formulated in the Introduction that computer science teachers differ from mathematics teachers in their ratings of instructional methods with respect to knowledge processes
Summary
National and international initiatives have emerged (Committee on Integrated STEM Education, 2014; Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2013) to strengthen STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects and to improve education in STEM sub-jects. An essential aspect of the MINT initiatives is to build an integrative view at the participating subjects, both from a perspective of learners as well as from a perspective of teachers. From the perspective of learners, an integrative view means that learners have understood related concepts in individual STEM subjects for solving problems (cf Breiner, Harkness, Johnson, & Koehler, 2012; Johnson, 2013). When building a wind turbine, concepts of various STEM subjects must be combined: from science concepts to capture relationships over real world facts (e.g. wind), from technology concepts to simulate a wind turbine, from engineering concepts to realize artifacts, from mathematics concepts to model real world things (e.g. wind energy) (see Figure 1; US Department of Energy, 2007; Windwise Education, 2018; the video of The National Academies of Science Engineering, 2018)
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