Research of existing models of professional development of future teachers of natural and mathematical disciplines and professional teacher has shown that the creation of an educational environment for STEM-oriented learning affects the formation and further improvement of the system of their values. In this paper, the concept of STEM-education in terms of interdiscipline is considered. An attempt was also made to identify the factors that influence the readiness of teachers to support STEM-education and implement it in educational institutions. This study is concerned with determining the level of formation of teachers' readiness for the implementation of STEM-education in Ukraine. Here we propose a methodology and a model for determining the level of readiness through surveys and analysis of results. On the basis of the obtained results, further prospects of the research are proposed and recommendations for involving young people in scientific activities, which may improve learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM).
One of the promising areas that address the issues of providing queries in the labor
market, education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEMeducation): creation of conditions for a balanced harmonious formation of
scienceoriented education on the basis of modernization of the mathematical and naturalistic
and humanitarian education profiles. Interest in STEM is growing worldwide. This is
indicated by the number of publications and studies in different countries. For
example, in a review [
In this case, searches in most cases relate to STEM-education tools, as well as degrees and levels of education, education departments, stages.
Fig. 1. Relative number of queries statistics on the theme
of STEM in the world over the past five years
In Ukraine, STEM-education began to be interested relatively recently: the first queries appeared in 2007 year. The leaders in these queries are Kirovograd region (Figure 2). Mostly looking in the context of such phrases as: toolkit, summer camp, topic, tournament.
Fig. 2. Relative number of queries statistics on the theme
of STEM in Ukraine over the past five years
Development and implementation of education programs in the field of science, engineering, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the educational process is able to provide the needs of the labor market by highly skilled professionals. Accordingly, there is a need for trained teachers, teaching methods and upgraded training programs.
“The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers and
school leaders – and the quality of teachers and school leaders cannot exceed the
quality of work organization, professional development and support provided by and
to schools and local communities” [
The purpose of the article is to study the level of formation of participants' readiness for the implement of STEM-education in Ukraine and identify of factors influencing the professional development of the future teacher of natural and mathematical disciplines. 2
Today in the world there are more than a dozen analogs of interdisciplinary integration: STREAM, STEMLE, iSTEM, eSTEM, METALS, MINT, GEMS, etc. This is a combination of basic disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) with logic, law, robotics, gender issues, ecology, etc. The leading principle of STEMeducation is project activity. It has characteristics such as: interdisciplinarity (integrated learning), collaboration (active communication and teamwork), availability of results (application of scientific and technical knowledge in real life), preparation of children for technological innovation of life. Technology itself cannot create an environment for sharing knowledge, although it is a very important element of a knowledge management system. The use of modern digital technologies should support the necessary elements of interpersonal communication, because they make the process of sharing knowledge more intense. In this regard, it is necessary to pay attention not only to the material and technical part, but also to the organization of training activities.
Students cannot fully benefit from interdisciplinary studies until they acquire a
solid grounding in the various disciplines that interdisciplinarity attempts to bridge [
The issue of STEM support by the institution of education in scientific works is
called the school STEM culture. A survey carried out in [
In 2010, an attempt was made to compare educational curricula for teacher
education in a European project SITEP [
Qualifications for teachers who are already working should be supported by
shortterm courses. Adult education, associated with active cognitive activity and research,
creates a positive experience of using technology. It helps not only to quickly
perceive information, but also to apply it in its practice and create new knowledge. [
According to the study [
Among the organizational forms of teaching, today the most common frontal (lecture), group, individual activity (Figure 4).
Each of these forms affects the development and formation of a certain group of qualities. In particular, for all forms of learning, the development of cognitive skills is inherent due to the combination of theoretical knowledge and practical activity. The use of these forms in STEM-education has modern types of cognitive activity that provide the formation of such qualities (Figure 5).
The studies analyzed in [
There are different types of interaction between participants in the framework of
interdisciplinary work. In work [
Thus, social interaction and interaction in the professional environment are
necessary and useful in terms of personal and professional growth [
In order to identify teachers' readiness for the support and implementation of STEMeducation in Ukraine, we conducted a survey among 144 teachers of natural and mathematical disciplines. The survey was attended by teachers from different schools and different specialties.
Almost a third of the respondents were teachers of natural sciences (chemistry, biology, etc.). Among respondents 83% were teachers. Teachers of the directions "Mathematics" (34.8%), "Physics" (19.6%), "Informatics" (17.4%) turned out to be the most.
The questionnaire contained three types of questions: assume one-choice answers, assessment on a scale from 0 to 5 and free-answers. Were asked teachers to rate their knowledge and skills on a five-point Laickert scale.
The survey consisted of 10 questions on awareness of STEM education issues and 4 questions on the educational activity of teachers.
The question about the level of awareness in STEM education was asked to answer
in scores from zero ("I hear about it for the first time") to five points ("Actively use
STEM-technologies").
A sufficiently large number of teachers have an understanding of
STEMeducation, as were show answers presented in Figure 6. Against the background of
previous results, the share of teachers who are not familiar with the concept of STEM
education has decreased (previously it was 43%) [
In the question of the combination of which subjects are best suited for STEM education, teachers could choose no more than four subjects.
Preference received such disciplines as computer science (21.2%), mathematics (19.7%), physics (19.2%) and technology (15.2%). All other disciplines in the naturemathematical cycle received less than fifty percent. Some of the polled indicated philology. Such a division is due primarily to the specialization of the teachers themselves and the possible prediction of the use of STEM-education in their work. Such results can be considered a reflection.
Fig. 7. Answers to the question of the best combination
subjects for STEM education
The question "Which of the statements is true for STEM-education?" The respondents were asked to select several allegations from the proposed.
STEM education is associated with a promising area that will help students engage in research in the world (85.4%) believe the majority of teachers. as well as the ability to be involved in innovation (70.8%). Some teachers expressed doubts about STEM education (16,7%).
On the question "How are the properties of STEM education best described it?" Several variants of options could be made in order to determine the association's educational technologies with this area of activity.
According to most teachers, the most characteristic of STEM education is team
work (79.2%), research activities and the ability to experiment (77.1%). Scientific
research activities (60.4%), as well as interdisciplinarity and integration (64.6%) are
also important. These results are in good agreement with the results of work [
Figure 10 shows the responses of respondents about the provision of schools to support STEM education. As can be seen from the answers, there is a lack of material and technical basis, an indirect evaluation of organizational support and methodological materials.
In the next question, the teachers could express their wishes "What is to be done to the educational establishment for the introduction of STEM-education?" (Figure 11).
Fig. 11. The most popular answers to the question of teachers' needs
for the implementation of STEM-education
Most of the teachers called for the restoration of the material and technical base and funding for this direction. But some teachers still need methodological and organizational support. It should be noted that one of the answers was "Time".
The following two questions related to the activity of the teachers themselves: "Do you organize or attend integrated classes in different disciplines?" and "Do you have the experience of applying STEM in your professional activity?". Answers should have been indicated in scores from zero (option "No") to three points (the answer "Yes"). As can be seen from Figure 13, most of the teachers conduct integrated classes in their disciplines. At the same time, on the other question the majority answered was "no".
Such various answers say that there is still no full awareness in society and in the professional community that is STEM education and STEM technology. This concept is quite new and more attention needs to be paid to the formalization of the concepts of this direction and to familiarize the general public with its main concepts. It is also possible not to realize the value of their own activities and to compare it with existing practices.
The answers to the question "Who is the participant / organizer of which STEM events you are?" Most had negative responses. Teachers were able to determine the extent of their engagement to active engagement, as well as indicate which activities they are organizing. In the end, the answers to this question are in good agreement with the results of the previous question (Figure 13). The relative number of negative responses was almost half of the total (47%). Other teachers are ready to participate with their students in events. At the same time, a significant number (38%) of active teachers perform passive participation as a participant, not an organizer (15%).
Relatively large activity in the integrated lessons is due to the fact that most of
these lessons are conducted as Parallel Discipline Designs or Interdisciplinary Units /
Courses according to the above classification [
It is obvious that the main advantage of STEM-education is the formation of a community of specialists with a scientific outlook, ready to use technologies in their professional activities. However, this requires an appropriate organization of learning activities and other approaches to the formation of a community of teachers who are ready to support and implement this learning technology.
However, after undergoing training according to their specialty without using modern forms and methods of teaching, teachers give preference to those forms that they are known or need to be passively involved.
Using STEM-education as one of the learning technologies requires teachers and future teachers to be ready to change the educational environment and communicate in professional communities.
The survey conducted allows us to draw the following conclusions: Knowledge on STEM education is growing, but the general level of understanding of its basic principles as a technology and remains relatively low at this time. Given the recognition of the leading role of cooperation in STEM-education, part of teachers are ready to independently organize interaction in the educational activities of students. But most teachers are ready to passive participate in activities that focus on STEM education. Collaboration, integration and the exchange of experience play an important role in shaping the active community of STEM teachers. Therefore, in order to attract future teachers to the professional community, it is necessary to use such forms that give motivation for further improvement and influence the formation of a system of their values. To change the situation, it is necessary to include in the course of raising the skills of teachers, such activities as excursions, master classes, to engage in festivals and competitions.
The analysis of the results gives an opportunity to formulate prospects for further research. A promising direction is the development of programs of training modules for formal and non-formal education of future teachers of natural and mathematical disciplines. The influence of interdisciplinary programs on the readiness of teachers to support and introduce STEM-learning in the educational process has been proved. That is why it is necessary to create in the educational institution an educational environment for STEM-oriented learning, which will ensure cooperation, integration and exchange of experience among all participants in the training.