A conceptual framework for integrated STEM education

By T. Kelley, J. Knowles. 2016

1,622 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The global urgency to improve STEM education may be driven by environmental and social impacts of the twenty-first century which in turn jeopardizes global security and economic stability. The complexity of these global factors reach beyond just helping students achieve high scores in math and science assessments. Friedman (The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century, 2005) helped illustrate the complexity of a global society, and educators must help students prepare for this global shift. In response to these challenges, the USA experienced massive STEM educational reforms in the last two decades. In practice, STEM educators lack cohesive understanding of STEM education. Therefore, they could benefit from a STEM education conceptual framework. The process of integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in authentic contexts can be as complex as the global challenges that demand a new generation of STEM experts. Educational researchers indicate that teachers struggle to make connections across the STEM disciplines. Consequently, students are often disinterested in science and math when they learn in an isolated and disjoined manner missing connections to crosscutting concepts and real-world applications. The following paper will operationalize STEM education key concepts and blend learning theories to build an integrated STEM education framework to assist in further researching integrated STEM education.

Subfields: Computer Science Applications, Education, Media Technology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2a0a4c9723521b72de063e42d176cca953b71a72

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In Computer Science Applications

In Education

In Media Technology

Citations in the corpus

Can Education Institution Implement STEM? From Malaysian Teachers’ View (2017, background): “lessons is the approach to teach STEM content with two or more disciplines within an authentic context for the purpose of connecting these subjects to enhance students learning (Kelley et al., 2016).”
Empowering technology and engineering for STEM education through programming robots: a systematic literature review (2018, background): “Within this curriculum, providing daily life related problems can enhance the construction of the bridge between content and real life, around children (Breiner et al., 2012; Kelley & Knowles, 2016; Vasquez et al., 2013).”
STEM Education in Early Childhood: A Review of Empirical Studies (2020, positive): “In a similar vein, Kelley and Knowles (2016) defined it as “an approach to teaching the STEM content of two or more STEM domains, bound by STEM practices within an authentic context for the purpose of connecting these disciplines to enhance student learning” (p. 3).”
Factors Influencing Student STEM Learning: Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectancy, 21st Century Skills, and Career Awareness (2021, background): “The national efforts for advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is becoming stronger as our society demands a global STEM workforce (Asunda, 2012; Keirl, 2006; Kelley & Knowles, 2016; Li et al., 2019).”
The impact of an out‐of‐school STEM education program on students’ attitudes toward STEM and STEM careers (2019, background): “The literature does not provide a single description of an effective STEM integration model; it is somewhat ambiguous about the effective implementation of STEM education (Kelley & Knowles, 2016).”