The Possibilities of Developing STEM Skills in Higher Education

Abstract

The development of information and technology in recent decades has entailed a change of attitudes in higher education. In addition to academic knowledge, it is becoming increasingly important for students to acquire up-to-date, practical knowledge that will help them find their place in the world of work and in everyday life. Based on international analyses, the following characteristics, so-called soft skills, are essential on the labour market: higher-level thinking, communication skills, cooperation, self-control and a positive self-image. In our paper, we examine the possibilities of skills development in the field of STEM, especially in engineering education. In our university’s engineering teacher training, we strive to develop our students’ STEM skills using a variety of methods, and prepare them for the teacherly task of being able to effectively develop their own students’ skills and motivate them in STEM areas. This requires students to view their own learning process not as passive onlookers but as active participants. In our paper, we present some methods that can be effectively applied in STEM areas (e.g. discussion, collaborative learning, cooperative methods, project method, problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, gamification, the use of robots in education). Keywords: STEM, skills development, educational methods, teacher training