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Education Sciences
Special Issues
STEM Practices and Student Engagement
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STEM Practices and Student Engagement

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "STEM Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 7080

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Simon Leonard

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
Interests: STEM education policy; learning sciences
Dr. JohnPaul Kennedy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
Interests: student attitudes; science education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

STEM education is more than a simple alignment of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The STEM agenda quite explicitly seeks to ensure a supply of people trained in the technical and technological skills required in certain parts of the economy—the so-called 'industry 4.0'. To this end, STEM has driven significant organisational and pedagogical transformation at all levels of education including a greater emphasis on inter-disciplinary problem-based learning and, notably, an increased use of 'real-world' learning in the context of industry. This makes intuitive sense to educators. The silos of 'science', 'mathematics' and so on are problematic, and calls for better connections between them are long standing. Equally, calls to make the real-world use of scientific/technical knowledge are not new.

On the other hand, the critique of learning designs based on the STEM agenda is now growing with respect to both discursive and organisational change. The STEM agenda, for example, has served to govern ways of thinking and feeling about techno-scientific change in ways that prioritise the needs of global capital over and above alternative discourses available within scientific education such as sustainability. STEM has also been shown to provide cover for false claims of fairness in educational provision and a means for the continued reproduction of a stratified workforce.

This Special Issue will bring together papers discussing how theories of practice might offer productive ways to act in the context of these tensions—and simply to understand what is meant by 'student engagement' within this complex context. These papers will explore how the practices of the STEM disciplines can be imagined to at once support curriculum initiatives that take full advantage of the links with the 'real-world' that STEM has opened up, while also acknowledging the dangers to democratic education that the STEM agenda implicitly creates.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • the implementation of a networked, informal, or semi-formal STEM curriculum that effectively balances the development of skills with the development of the capacity of students to shape their world within and beyond the workplace;
  • (new) methodologies for evaluating student attitude and engagement in STEM.

I/we look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Simon Leonard
Dr. JohnPaul Kennedy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • STEM
  • student engagement
  • practice theory
  • evaluation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 296 KiB  
Article
Perceived Connection to Instructor and Instructor Passion as Predictors of Transformative Experiences in Science
by Kevin J. Pugh, Cassendra M. Bergstrom, Michael M. Phillips, Julie M. Sexton, Colton Olson and Eric M. Riggs
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 526; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13050526 - 21 May 2023
Viewed by 1883
Abstract
Transformative experience represents a deep-engagement construct and refers to experiences in which students use science content to see and experience the world in meaningful new ways outside the classroom. Such experiences are associated with deep learning (e.g., transfer) and engagement (e.g., academic and [...] Read more.
Transformative experience represents a deep-engagement construct and refers to experiences in which students use science content to see and experience the world in meaningful new ways outside the classroom. Such experiences are associated with deep learning (e.g., transfer) and engagement (e.g., academic and career choice) outcomes. However, research on individual factors predictive of transformative experience is limited. The current study investigated university geoscience students’ perceptions of a connection to their instructor(s) and perceptions of their instructors’ passion for the content as predictors of transformative experience. Controlling for students’ initial interest and self-efficacy in the domain, we found both these factors to be predictive of transformative experience. These results suggest science teachers may be able to support engagement in transformative experiences by connecting with students and expressing a passion for the content. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue STEM Practices and Student Engagement)
13 pages, 583 KiB  
Article
The STEM Crisis and Teacher Practice: Exploring Responses to the Competing Discursive Arrangements of Education in the Sciences in a Catholic School Setting
by Simon N. Leonard, Lisa O’Keeffe, Bruce White, Melanie O’Leary and Karen Sloan
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 709; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12100709 - 14 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1964
Abstract
STEM has become a pervasive part of global education reform. The STEM discourse positions the purpose of scientific education as being to prepare young people for work in a hyper-competitive 21st century knowledge economy, pushing aside alternative approaches focussed on interrogating social, moral [...] Read more.
STEM has become a pervasive part of global education reform. The STEM discourse positions the purpose of scientific education as being to prepare young people for work in a hyper-competitive 21st century knowledge economy, pushing aside alternative approaches focussed on interrogating social, moral and political issues in context. This narrative does not always sit comfortably with the holistic ambitions of many state and faith-based education systems. In this paper we will argue that these tensions emerge from deeper conflicts in the cultural-discursive arrangements around education in the advanced democratic states through an exploration of the response to a STEM curriculum project in a Catholic education system. The exploration is based on a phenomenographic analysis of reflective interviews conducted with participating teachers. We conclude that while the teachers are aware of the tensions, they may benefit from access to a language for discussing the various pressures on learning design and meaning making. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue STEM Practices and Student Engagement)
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18 pages, 788 KiB  
Article
Gender-Related Differences for Subject Interest and Academic Emotions for STEM Subjects among Swedish Upper Secondary School Students
by Mirka Kans and Lena Claesson
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(8), 553; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12080553 - 15 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2499
Abstract
It is hard to attract young persons to engineering and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of education in Sweden. Factors, such as interest and ability, are affecting the educational orientation of students, and many studies suggest that there are gender [...] Read more.
It is hard to attract young persons to engineering and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of education in Sweden. Factors, such as interest and ability, are affecting the educational orientation of students, and many studies suggest that there are gender related differences in students’ perceptions regarding different subject areas. Nevertheless, it is not fully evident why students’ make their educational choices. In this paper, Swedish upper secondary school students’ perceptions of interest and self-efficacy are studied in the form of a questionnaire survey to gain deeper understanding on the choices that are made. Open-ended questions regarding subject interest, as well as questions connecting STEM-related situations with perceived emotions were included, in addition to direct questions regarding interest and self-efficacy. Differences were seen both with respect to educational orientation and to gender, which confirms previous studies. Male students were interested in subjects that are accurate, logical, and scientific, while the female students emphasized the analytical and challenging aspects, in the sense that the subjects forced them to think. Interest and future opportunities affected the choice of program, while the student’s own perceived ability seemed less important. Results with respect to emotions showed that the female students in this study felt insecure and scared in STEM-related situations to higher degree than male students did. Students on the social science program were bored and uninterested, while natural science and technology program students were more interested and confident in STEM-related scenarios. These findings help us to understand how students approach STEM situations, and how to take necessary measures to equalize these situations using a norm-critical approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue STEM Practices and Student Engagement)
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