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Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms

The teaching of natural sciences and technology in primary schools presents an opportunity to use innovative approaches to teach STEM-based activities. The subject presents opportunities for learners to experience STEM-based instructional approaches in their early school years; therefore, it is esse...

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Autores principales: Mafugu, Tafirenyika, Tsakeni, Maria, Jita, Loyiso C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9838460/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42330-022-00252-z
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author Mafugu, Tafirenyika
Tsakeni, Maria
Jita, Loyiso C.
author_facet Mafugu, Tafirenyika
Tsakeni, Maria
Jita, Loyiso C.
author_sort Mafugu, Tafirenyika
collection PubMed
description The teaching of natural sciences and technology in primary schools presents an opportunity to use innovative approaches to teach STEM-based activities. The subject presents opportunities for learners to experience STEM-based instructional approaches in their early school years; therefore, it is essential that preservice primary school teachers are adequately prepared for the task. This study explored the perceptions of preservice teachers of STEM-based teaching in natural sciences and technology classrooms. Using a qualitative research approach and a single case study of a science and technology teaching methods course at a South African university, five participants were purposively selected from a group of 42 preservice teachers who had participated in a project to develop lesson plans and reflect on how to teach STEM. The data collected were analysed using thematic content analysis techniques. The findings indicate that the preservice teachers used natural sciences as an entry point to teach STEM and underestimated the technology component. The preservice teachers had the perception that STEM is taught through activity-based strategies while incorporating assessment for learning. Although they identified activities that could be used to teach STEM, they did not link the activities with developing specific skills in the lesson plans. The study recommends that preservice teachers be taught to link STEM activities with the development of specific STEM skills.
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spelling pubmed-98384602023-01-17 Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms Mafugu, Tafirenyika Tsakeni, Maria Jita, Loyiso C. Can. J. Sci. Math. Techn. Educ. Article The teaching of natural sciences and technology in primary schools presents an opportunity to use innovative approaches to teach STEM-based activities. The subject presents opportunities for learners to experience STEM-based instructional approaches in their early school years; therefore, it is essential that preservice primary school teachers are adequately prepared for the task. This study explored the perceptions of preservice teachers of STEM-based teaching in natural sciences and technology classrooms. Using a qualitative research approach and a single case study of a science and technology teaching methods course at a South African university, five participants were purposively selected from a group of 42 preservice teachers who had participated in a project to develop lesson plans and reflect on how to teach STEM. The data collected were analysed using thematic content analysis techniques. The findings indicate that the preservice teachers used natural sciences as an entry point to teach STEM and underestimated the technology component. The preservice teachers had the perception that STEM is taught through activity-based strategies while incorporating assessment for learning. Although they identified activities that could be used to teach STEM, they did not link the activities with developing specific skills in the lesson plans. The study recommends that preservice teachers be taught to link STEM activities with the development of specific STEM skills. Springer International Publishing 2023-01-10 2022 /pmc/articles/PMC9838460/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42330-022-00252-z Text en © Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Article
Mafugu, Tafirenyika
Tsakeni, Maria
Jita, Loyiso C.
Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms
title Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms
title_full Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms
title_fullStr Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms
title_full_unstemmed Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms
title_short Preservice Primary Teachers’ Perceptions of STEM-Based Teaching in Natural Sciences and Technology Classrooms
title_sort preservice primary teachers’ perceptions of stem-based teaching in natural sciences and technology classrooms
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9838460/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42330-022-00252-z
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