Assessing Teacher Education and Professional Development Needs for the Implementation of Integrated Approaches to STEM Education

Autor/inn/en	Shernoff, David J.; Sinha, Suparna; Bressler, Denise M.; Ginsburg, Lynda
Titel	Assessing Teacher Education and Professional Development Needs for the Implementation of Integrated Approaches to STEM Education
Quelle	In: International Journal of STEM Education, 4 (2017), Artikel 13 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2196-7822
DOI	10.1186/s40594-017-0068-1
Schlagwörter	Faculty Development; STEM Education; Needs Assessment; Elementary School Teachers; Middle School Teachers; Secondary School Teachers; Administrators; Questionnaires; Qualitative Research; Teacher Administrator Relationship; Preservice Teacher Education; Integrated Curriculum; Curriculum Implementation; Workshops; Semi Structured Interviews; New Jersey + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? STEM; Bedarfsermittlung; Elementary school; Teacher; Teachers; Grundschule; Volksschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Middle school; Middle schools; Mittelschule; Mittelstufenschule; Fragebogen; Qualitative Forschung; Lehramtsstudiengang; Lehrerausbildung; Lernwerkstatt; Schulung
Abstract	Background: Given the growing interest in, and relevance of, integrated approaches to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, there is an urgent desire to understand the challenges and obstacles to developing and implementing integrated STEM curricula and instruction. In this article, we present phase 1 of a two-phase needs assessment study to identify challenges and needs of promoting integrated approaches in STEM education. Utilizing a key informant approach, 22 K-12 teachers and four administrators selected as potential leaders in STEM education in an unidentified state on the East Coast of the USA were interviewed. Participants were asked to identify challenges and perceived supports to conduct integrated STEM education. Questions were open-ended in order to inform a larger, state-wide questionnaire study in phase 2 to be reported subsequently and were qualitatively coded. Results: Several distinctive themes were identified as described by teacher participants when discussing challenges and obstacles of implementing integrated STEM education, as well as supports that would be most helpful in overcoming them. Participants also provided specific suggestions for teacher education needed to support integrated STEM education. Conclusions: Preliminary findings suggest that many teachers are interested in integrated approaches to STEM, but do not believe they are well prepared to implement them. Teachers and administrators also suggest that adequate preparation in integrated STEM would entail a considerable rethinking and redesigning of pre-service courses and in-service workshops. Findings provide a starting point for better understanding teacher needs in integrated STEM and a springboard for further study. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01