Secondary School Students’ Interest in the Core Components of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): Implications for Instruction Readiness

Abstract

The implementation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in secondary school has important role in scientific and technological advancement of a nation and students are the main receiver of the instruction. This study investigated the students’ interest as an implication of students’ readiness for STEM instruction in Gusau, Zamfara state. The study adopted descriptive survey design. Simple random sampling was used to select 100 students of SS 2 from private and public schools making total of 200 students. An instrument title Senior Secondary School Readiness for STEM Instruction was used to collect data. The instrument was validated and pilot tested which yielded reliability coefficient of 0.86. Three research questions were raised and answered and two hypotheses were stated and tested at 0.05 level of significant. The result of the study showed that senior secondary school students in Gusau, Zamfara state are ready for STEM instruction. There was no significant different between the responses of students based on gender and school type. It was therefore recommended that education stakeholder should expedite the implementation of STEM in senior secondary school to harvest students’ readiness for better achievement.