STEM Education for Disadvantaged Students: Teacher and Student Experiences
Abstract
STEM
education is based on interrelated and holistic teaching of the disciplines of
science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is important to ensure
that STEM education does not address a certain category of society only but
that it is also applied to disadvantaged segments of society. The aim of the
present study is to identify the opinions of socio-economically disadvantaged
students and their teachers about STEM education experience. The study was
planned according to the case study model. The participants of the research
consisted of a teacher and 34 Grade-8 students studying in a regional boarding
school (RBS) in a northern province of Turkey. In the study, a unit (Living
Beings and Life) within the scope of 8th grade science course was planned in
accordance with STEM education. The data of the study were collected through
student diaries and the field notes taken by the teacher. The data obtained
from student diaries were subjected to content analysis, and the field notes
were analysed with descriptive analysis. It was determined that the RBS
students evaluated STEM-focused activities and the related applications in
terms of their contributions to their learning process, 21st-century skills,
their perceptions about STEM disciplines and the development of their career
awareness on STEM fields. The results obtained from the teachers’ field notes
showed that the students’ participation and group work skills increased, that
the students had fun and became motivated in the course, and that they
experienced an improvement in their skills of associating what they learned
with their daily life, solving problems and designing and in their engineering
awareness.
Keywords
Kaynakça
- Alsbury, T. L. & Shaw. N. L. (2005). Policy implications for social justice in school district consolidation. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 4, 105–126.
- Bannister, V. R. P., Davis, J., Mutegi, J., Thompson, L. & Lewis, D. D. (2017). Returning to the root” of the problem: improvıng the social condition of african americans through mathematics education. Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum, 7(1), 4-14.
- Bozkurt Altan, E., & Ercan, S. (2016). STEM Education program for science teachers: perceptions and competencies. Journal of Turkish Science Education, 13, 103- 117.
- Bybee, R. (2010) Advancing STEM education: a 2020 vision. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 70(1), 30-35.
- Çepni, S. (2017). Kuramdan uygulamaya STEM eğitimi. Ankara. Pegem Akademi.
- Çınar, S., Pırasa, N. & Paliç Sadoğlu, G. 2016. Views of science and mathematics pre- service teachers regarding STEM. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(6), 1479- 1487.
- Ellis, A. & Fouts, J. (2001). Interdisciplinary curriculum: The research base: The decision to approach music curriculum from an interdisciplinary perspective should include a consideration of all the possible benefits and drawbacks. Music Educators Journal, 87(22), 22-26,68.
- Enslin P. (2006). Democracy, social justice and education: feminist strategies in a globalising world. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 38(1), 57-67.
Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
-
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
Esra Köroğlu
Bu kişi benim
0000-0001-9270-0992
Yayımlanma Tarihi
27 Ekim 2019
Gönderilme Tarihi
4 Eylül 2019
Kabul Tarihi
26 Ekim 2019
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2019 Cilt: 10 Sayı: 4