Integrative learning in K-12 STEM education: How to prepare the first step?

Abstract

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education has become one of the fastest growing trends in curriculum development around the globe. Integrated STEM education undoubtedly forms a new multifaceted phenomenon in education to prepare students to meet the new challenges of the 21st century. Science, Mathematics, and Technology education have always been a part of the K-12 curriculum as individualized disciplines. However, engineering is rarely taught in primary schools, and schools have no empirical experience of how to develop and implement an integrated STEM curriculum for students at the early age. In this project, an exploratory study of design-based research on integrated STEM curriculum with a local primary school in Hong Kong is reported. Through this study, it provides the first-hand experience of how integrated STEM education may be designed and implemented in the future. The findings may help schools in K-12 recognize the challenges and opportunities in bring the integrative learning to students.