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School-STEM Professionals Collaboration: Impact On Teachers' STEM Perceptions

This document describes a professional development program called "School-STEM Professionals Collaboration" that was implemented to improve elementary teachers' understanding and instruction of STEM concepts. Five teachers from a Hong Kong elementary school participated in the program, which involved designing and implementing authentic STEM activities with input from STEM professionals. Pre- and post-program assessments found that the teachers developed a more integrated and connected understanding of STEM education, STEM professionals' work, and how STEM relates to real-world applications. The teachers also reported feeling more confident and satisfied in teaching STEM after collaborating with STEM professionals through this program. The results suggest that the "School-STEM Professionals Collaboration" model of professional development can effectively

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43 views3 pages

School-STEM Professionals Collaboration: Impact On Teachers' STEM Perceptions

This document describes a professional development program called "School-STEM Professionals Collaboration" that was implemented to improve elementary teachers' understanding and instruction of STEM concepts. Five teachers from a Hong Kong elementary school participated in the program, which involved designing and implementing authentic STEM activities with input from STEM professionals. Pre- and post-program assessments found that the teachers developed a more integrated and connected understanding of STEM education, STEM professionals' work, and how STEM relates to real-world applications. The teachers also reported feeling more confident and satisfied in teaching STEM after collaborating with STEM professionals through this program. The results suggest that the "School-STEM Professionals Collaboration" model of professional development can effectively

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林柄洲
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2018 EASE

School-STEM Professionals Collaboration:


Impact on Teachers’ STEM Perceptions
Winnie Wing Mui SO1*, Qianwen HE1, Yu CHEN1
1
Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region, the People’s Republic of China

*
wiso@eduhk.hk

Abstract
There are many opportunities and challenges for teachers to teach science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts at the elementary level (Abrams, Southerland,
& Silva 2007). However, the lack of background knowledge, confidence, and efficacy for
teaching STEM are constraining many elementary teachers. EI-Deghaidy and Mansour (2015)
found that all of the teachers they surveyed felt underprepared and concerned about teaching
STEM activities with students in the classroom. It is therefore necessary to provide teacher
professional development (PD) programmes to promote teachers’ STEM education skills. This
research implemented a PD programme namely “School-STEM Professionals Collaboration”,
which provides an effective platform for elementary science teachers, education researchers
and STEM professionals to work collaboratively on the design and implementation of authentic
STEM inquiry activities in schools. Five teachers from one Hong Kong elementary school
participated in this research. Specifically, the PD programme focused on: (1) Design: the
participating teachers were encouraged to design and refine their authentic STEM activities
according to the work and suggestions of STEM professionals; and (2) Implementation: the
teachers implemented STEM activities with their students. It was expected that the PD
programme helped the teachers to develop knowledge of STEM professionals work and their
skills of and confidence in organizing STEM inquiries. The impacts of the PD progamme was
assessed through investigating the teachers’ perceptions of STEM education using pre- and
post- concept maps, pre- and post- interviews, and self-reflections. Teachers’ drawings were
analyzed according to Akaygun and Aslan-Tutal’s (2016) work, and were allocated into four
levels: disconnected, connected, complimentary, and integrated. Every conception of STEM
was identified, too. In addition, the data of pre- and post- concept-maps, pre- and post-
interviews, and self-reflections were triangulated to track the changes in the teachers’
perceptions of STEM curriculum and instruction. Results indicated that the teachers’ ideas of
STEM education mostly were complementary and integrated (Akaygun & Aslan-Tutal, 2016).
After the PD programme, the teachers became more knowledgeable about STEM, STEM
professionals’ works and their connections to human benefits or endeavors. The experience of
authentic STEM activities and “STEM-School Collaboration” helped the teachers build up a
connection between the STEM subjects and the work of STEM professionals. In reflection of
the STEM practices, several teachers emphasized the importance of students’ discussion and
2018 EASE

autonomy in STEM classes. Besides, most teachers reported that they were satisfied with the
PD programme and were more confident in conducting authentic STEM activities partly
because of the collaboration with STEM professionals who can provide professional advice for
the specific topic and experiments to promote their knowledge and implicational skills of
STEM activities. Overall, the “School-STEM Professionals Collaboration” programme
showed positive impacts on improving the teachers’ STEM understanding and instruction
strategies. This study suggested that the PD programme of “School-STEM Collabration” can
be promoted to support teachers’ STEM professional development and future implementation
of STEM activities in science education.

Keywords: STEM Education, Teacher Perception, School-STEM Professionals Collaboration


2018 EASE

References
Abrams, E., Southerland, S., & Silva, P. (Eds.). (2007). Inquiry in the classroom: Realities and
opportunities. IAP.
Akaygun, S., & Aslan-Tutak, F. (2016). Conceptions of Pre-Service Chemistry. International
Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 4(1), 56-71.
El-Deghaidy, H., & Mansour, N. (2015). Science teachers’ perceptions of STEM education:
Possibilities and challenges. International Journal of Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 51-54.

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