Teachers' readiness in implementing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education from the cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects

Abstract

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM Education is among the agenda for the education transformation in Malaysia to face the challenges of the 21st century. It was given strong emphasis in the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2013–2025 launched in 2012. As teachers are the agents of change in ensuring the success of this transformation, this study was conducted to identify the readiness among teachers in Malaysia towards the implementation of STEM education from the cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects. A survey method was used in this study involving 190 teachers. The instrument included a questionnaire that contained items on the readiness of teachers in implementing STEM from the cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects. The analysis of descriptive statistics was done using SPSS software. The results of this study show that the mean for teachers' readiness in all three aspects studied are at a moderate level. However, the mean for teachers' readiness from the cognitive aspect is higher as compared to the behavioural and affective aspects. This finding shows that, although teachers' cognitive readiness level is high, from the behavioural and affective aspects, teachers are found to be less prepared to implement STEM Education.