Conditions for the Effectiveness of Multiple Visual Representations in Enhancing STEM Learning

Visual representations play a critical role in enhancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning. Educational psychology research shows that adding visual representations to text can enhance students’ learning of content knowledge, compared to text-only. But should students learn with a single type of visual representation or with multiple different types of visual representations? This article addresses this question from the perspective of the representation dilemma, namely that students often learn content they do not yet understand from representations they do not yet understand. To benefit from visual representations, students therefore need representational competencies, that is, knowledge about how visual representations depict information about the content. This article reviews literature on representational competencies involved in students’ learning of content knowledge. Building on this review, this article analyzes how the number of visual representations affects the role these representational competencies play during students’ learning of content knowledge. To this end, the article compares two common scenarios: text plus a single type of visual representations (T+SV) and text plus multiple types of visual representations (T+MV). The comparison yields seven hypotheses that describe under which conditions T+MV scenarios are more effective than T+SV scenarios. Finally, the article reviews empirical evidence for each hypothesis and discusses open questions about the representation dilemma.     

Mentored Discussions of Teaching: An Introductory Teaching Development Program for Future STEM Faculty

Today’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are tomorrow’s new faculty members; but these junior academicians often receive limited pedagogical training. We describe four iterations of an entry-level program with a low time commitment, Mentored Discussions of Teaching (MDT). The program is designed to introduce participants to pedagogical issues and literature in STEM disciplines and foster related discussions. It consists of group meetings, classroom observations, and discussions with faculty members. Program components were generally highly rated and valuable, even for those with prior teaching experience. We have found that this program is also an effective way to engage faculty members in the teaching aspects of students’ professional development.     

STEM Professionals Entering Teaching: Navigating Multiple Identities

In this qualitative study, we identify the complexity of the transitioning identities of four STEM career changers to better inform teacher education programs on how to be more mindful of the needs of this population as they return to the life of a student again on their path toward a new career in teaching. Findings suggest the career changers relied upon their identities from their previous careers to engage students in science; however, support is needed, both in terms of the coursework and returning to be a student again. Additionally, support is necessary for intervening in difficult placements and work situations as these STEM career changers make the transition to their newly chosen career of teaching science.     

Challenges in STEM Teaching: Implication for Preservice and Inservice Teacher Education Program

As former and current STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) school teachers in Singapore, we explore the challenges we both experienced while teaching at different STEM schools. Through this article, we make a case for the teacher preparation programs locally and around the world to give more attention to a changing education landscape with emerging specialized STEM schools. Nonetheless, even though specialized STEM teacher preparation is needed, we also caution that having such a specialized program may limit teachers' horizontal transition to mainstream schools and awareness of the contextualized needs of more diverse learners.     

Teaching as Designing: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Adaptive Teaching

This conceptual article explores teaching as design work, arguing that a critical thing teachers do is design systems that enable their students to learn. Designing occurs when teachers generate new learning activities or modify curricular programs to create coherence for themselves and their students. Nonetheless, few teacher education programs include instruction in learning how to engage in design thinking. Here, designing is explored as a means to help pre-service teachers develop their facility for adaptive teaching practice by incorporating design thinking at an early stage in their teacher education programs. Literature is drawn from traditional design fields to articulate design capacities and to describe design studio pedagogy practices often used in the education of designers. As an illustrative example is presented of such practices were incorporated throughout one 15-week educational psychology course embedded in an undergraduate elementary-education program to support pre-service teachers development of design thinking. The goal was not to prepare students to use particular instructional innovations, but to collaboratively design such innovations themselves.     

小学科学教师视角下的STEM教学特征——基于扎根理论的质性研究

本研究以小学科学教师为访谈对象,运用扎根理论研究方法,对小学科学教师视角下的STEM教学特征进行质性建构,以期为开展STEM教学提供可能的有效行动路径。通过对STEM教学理念、STEM教学模式、STEM教学评价以及STEM教学面临的挑战等方面的探查发现,小学科学教师认为STEM教育有利于学生综合能力和相关学科核心素养的培养,STEM教学不一定要同时整合科学、技术、工程和数学四个领域;教学内容应贴近实际生活,围绕某一个问题或项目展开,给学生充分的交流展示时间; STEM教学评价中及时性评价与延时性评价相结合,教师评价与学生互评相结合,评价维度涵纳学生创新思维、动手能力、合作交流、产品设计等; STEM教学目前面临的主要困难集中在政策推动、领导支持、教师共同体的建立、小班化教学、教师学科基础的提升等方面。改进我国STEM教学实践,可以采用下列措施:基于循证研究,制定STEM教学引领性文件;深化STEM教学理解,促进学生学科素养的发展;依托STEM教师共同体,搭建跨专业STEM教学平台以及推动专家与教师合作,开发本土化STEM课程资源。     

突出校本特色,提高政治理论教学的实效性

享有“千年学府,百年师范”美誉的湖南第一师范,具有光荣的革命传统、深厚的人文精神底蕴和悠久的传统文化积淀,为我校政治理论教学提供了得天独厚的条件.深厚的人文精神底蕴,有利于营造良好的政治理论教学环境;光荣的革命传统,丰富了政治理论教学内容;青年毛泽东纪念馆,为政治理论教学提供了良好的实践基地.     

Peer-Based Supplemental Instruction in STEM: Differences in Effectiveness Across Transfer and Nontransfer Undergraduates

Although there is a large body of research on the effectiveness of supplemental instruction for college undergraduates, very little of it has focused on transfer students, who often confront additional sources of stress and historically perform more poorly than their native student counterparts. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a peer-based supplemental instructional program in general and organic chemistry at a large state university over a six-year period, while considering differences across transfer and nontransfer students. The results suggest that the supplemental instruction improved outcomes overall but that nontransfer students benefit to a greater degree than transfer students, in the form of higher grades and pass rates, from attending supplemental instruction. The results suggest that peer-based supplemental instruction is a useful method to improve undergraduate student performance in chemistry, but more research is needed on ways to enhance the effectiveness of interventions in improving the performance of transfer undergraduate students in STEM fields.     

FAST-Future Academic Scholars in Teaching: A High-Engagement Development Program for Future STEM Faculty

Doctoral granting institutions prepare future faculty members for academic positions at institutions of higher education across the nation. Growing concerns about whether these institutions are adequately preparing students to meet the demands of a changing academic environment have prompted several reform efforts. We describe a professional development model designed to prepare the future faculty to integrate the multiple components of academic careers. The program emphasizes the study and application of effective teaching practices centered on student learning and assessment and expectations for faculty careers. We describe the impact of the program on its participants.     

Teaching STEM after school: Correlates of instructional comfort

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is a critical component of federal policymakers' agendas. Out-of-school time (OST) programs are designated as an important venue to teach STEM to K–12 students. Using a sample of OST direct staff in Pennsylvania (n = 133), the present analysis examines instructional methods used for STEM lessons and then explores the comfort level that staff have teaching STEM. About 20% or more of staff are not comfortable teaching STEM, depending on the subject. Multivariate analyses (Mann-Whitney tests) also show that staff with fewer STEM credentials, and who work in less-networked programs, or programs with less STEM instruction overall, are more likely to express discomfort teaching STEM. Policy and planning implications are discussed.     

以“工程”为中心的STEM课程驱动问题设计研究

STEM教育源于美国实用主义国策,意在通过跨学科的学习方式培养学生的问题解决能力、创新能力、团队协作能力等21世纪人才需要的综合素养。近年来,STEM教育在我国蓬勃发展的同时,在实践中也存在着课程体系不成熟、教学设计不合理、与学科知识脱节等偏离STEM教育初衷的问题。针对这一情况,本文围绕STEM教育中的核心元素"工程",以工程设计过程为出发点,结合相关案例的分析,从问题的结构与基本特征两个维度探讨了STEM课程中驱动问题的设计。在STEM课程中,以"工程"为中心的驱动问题应当是劣构的、与情境紧密相连的,并且具有领域相关性与动态性。问题的3个关键元素——初始条件、障碍、目标通过与工程设计过程的融合可转换为课程设计的关键元素。以"工程"为中心的驱动问题设计对STEM教育实践的启示包括:在课程中正确地体现跨学科性,注重对学生问题解决能力与工程思维的培养、转变课程评价方式以及多方合力建设STEM课程生态共同体。     

适性教学：智能时代的教学图景

以信息技术和大数据为关键支撑的智能化时代的到来,将会对未来的教学形态进行重塑和再造。适性教学是指教师在实际教学情境中,遵循学生本位理念,依据学习者需求提供适合学生个人特质的学习内容和指导方法,以提升学生学习成效、发挥个人学习潜力,具有协同性和有效性的教学模式。智能化时代背景下的适性教学应具备以下特征：精准的课堂信息汇通,全息化的育人方式,生态化的课堂学习。对此,学校文化需由“知识本位”转向“素养本位”,学习环境需由“单一封闭”走向“融合开放”,教学主体需由“师生二元”到增设“智能代理”。     

STEM教育的本土化困境及其适应性超越

针对STEM教育游离于中国教育实践土壤之外的现实,"STEM教育本土化"的呼吁由来已久.当前STEM教育在本土的三维演化以异域理念奠定本土认知基础,以课程实践探索本土方法策略,以体系建设深化本土路径架构.中国STEM教育发展至今,面临观念偏离使本土化逻辑自茧、理论缺位使本土化创新受阻、实践无序使本土化探索失范的三重困境...     

美国STEM教育改革的走向——基于《STEM2026:STEM教育创新愿景》的分析

为了更好促进美国STEM教育改革,美国出台了《STEM2026:STEM教育创新愿景》。该报告提出:STEM教育要从娃娃抓起;STEM教育要丰富生源,让更多弱势群体接受优质STEM教育;STEM教育要从校内走向校外,构建校内外一体化的STEM教育环境;STEM课程要注重学科的交叉整合,不仅要实现科学、技术、工程和数学之间的融合,还要重视STEM与其他学科的融合;STEM教学要融入游戏且具有风险性,让学生在探究中感知STEM教育的魅力,且养成不畏险阻的科学精神;STEM考评方式要多样且能促进学生更好地学习,为此考评方式要创新且具操作性。     

Troubling STEM: Making a Case for an Ethics/STEM Partnership

Set against the backdrop of a STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activity in a teacher education science methods class, the author examines the need for ethics education to be partnered with STEM education. To make the case, the origin of the STEM initiative, undertaken and strongly supported by both US government and corporate sources, is briefly recounted. The STSE initiative (science, technology, society and environment) is posited as a counterpoint to STEM. Also considered are: (a) an historical perspective of science and technology as these impact difficult individual and social decision making; (b) STEM knowledge generation considered through the lens of Habermas’ threefold knowledge typology; and (c) the experiences of the teacher candidates working through the STEM activity when an ethical challenge is posed. The author demonstrates the need for a moral component for science education and makes the case for a partnership between STEM and ethics education. Further, such a partnership has been shown to increase student enjoyment and motivation for their science studies. Three possible ethical frameworks are examined for their theoretical and practical utility in a science classroom.     

面向STEM教育的5E探究式教学模式设计

当前由传统的"理工科教育"转变为STEM跨学科教育,尚缺乏切实可行的教学模式和有效的教学策略。文章首先阐述了STEM教育的内涵,并试图从教学模式、教育理念、学习方式、培育目标、内核驱动力、教育基础、教育特征、教学原则等八个方面分析本土化STEM教育形态;随后,文章设计了包含参与、探究、解释、精致、评价的5E教学流程;最后,文章以"探究"为核心,针对三种探究式教学策略,构建出面向STEM教育的5E探究式教学模式并进行了案例分析,以期为未来STEM教育的研究与发展提供理论参考。     

教学有效性问题浅析

教学有效性问题研究具有重要的教学理论意义和鲜明的现实针对性。目前,教学有效性问题突出表现在教师有效教学观念淡薄,课堂教学时间有效性差,教学与课程实施的纵向、横向和内向结构失衡,以及课堂管理问题等几个方面。只有认真研究和解决这些问题,才能切实提高课堂教学的有效性。     

Adaptive Instructional Strategies for Teaching Rules in Mathematics

These researchers explored ways of adapting instruction to individual students. In one experiment, as an incentive for focusing on more difficult learning tasks, they assigned more points to tasks predicted to be difficult for the student. In a second experiment, they varied both incentives and number of examples offered to demonstrate the tasks, again on the basis of pretest scores. Included is a discussion of how the findings-that both techniques are beneficial—can be applied in classroom instruction. The authors acknowledge the contribution of Duncan N. Hansen, who directed the research project involving performance of the present studies and participated in the writing of earlier drafts. Requests for reprints should be sent to Steven M. Ross, Foundations of Education, Memphis State University.