Stem, Steam, Computational Thinking and Coding: Evidence-based Research and Practice in Children’s Development

This study compares the STEM Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Greek and Turkish preschool teachers. The present research is a comparative descriptive study that aims to determine the STEM Pedagogical Content Knowledge of preschool teachers from Greece and Turkey. A descriptive survey model, a method used in quantitative research, was used as this study’s primary research method. The STEM Pedagogical Content Knowledge Scale (STEMPCK) was used in this study. Six hundred sixty-nine preschool teachers - 104 Greek and 565 Turkish teachers - participated in this study. The STEMPCK Scale’s construct validity and reliability were tested using this study’s data set, which was found to be both valid and reliable. No significant difference was found between the STEMPCK scores of Greek and Turkish preschool teachers. The significant differentiation of STEMPCK scores based on whether the teachers had received any STEM training is discussed in light of the relevant literature. This study determines and compares STEMPCK among preschool teachers from disparate countries such as Greece and Turkey and is expected to contribute to the literature.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education emphasizes solving problems in authentic contexts and developing 21st-century skills. It also helps to cultivate individuals possessing scientific curiosity and innovative abilities. These capacities align with China’s core literacy training. Recent years have seen K–12 STEM cases flourish nationally. However, little attention has been paid to the shared characteristics of these practices, and suggestions for implementing STEM in primary and secondary schools are scarce. This paper presents commonalities in STEM practices within China from a curriculum perspective and offers recommendations for implementation based on these attributes. Specifically, this study first constructed analytical metrics via the Delphi method to assess STEM cases. Next, 51 typical STEM teaching cases in different regions of China were analyzed using these metrics. Based upon the statistical results, five characteristics of STEM cases were summarized: China’s STEM education has an unbalanced geographical distribution; current practices benchmark the need for innovative talent training; most instructional content is drawn from real-world problems, but interdisciplinary integration deserves closer focus; the cases featured rich teaching activities and were conducted in a project-based learning fashion with insufficient emphasis on mathematical applications; and China seems to be holistically promoting STEM education, especially through new technologies and supplementary materials. Findings should allow instructors to better understand the intricacies of STEM implementation and to promote successful STEM cases. Recommendations are also provided to optimize the localization of STEM education in China in order to cultivate innovative and interdisciplinary talent.

The gender gap in Computer Science (CS) is widely documented worldwide. Only a few studies, however, have investigated whether and how gender differences manifest early in the learning of computing, at the beginning of primary school. Coding, seen as an element of Computational Thinking, has entered the curriculum of primary school education in several countries. As the early years of primary education happen before gender stereotypes in CS are expected to be fully endorsed, the opportunity to learn coding for boys and girls at that age might in principle help reduce the gender gap later observed in CS education. Prior research findings however suggest that an advantage for boys in coding tasks may begin to emerge already since preschool or the early grades of primary education. In the present study we explored whether the coding abilities of 1st graders, at their first experience with coding, are affected by gender differences, and whether their presence associates with gender differences in executive functions (EF), i.e., response inhibition and planning skills. Earlier research has shown strong association between children's coding abilities and their EF, as well as the existence of gender differences in the maturation of response inhibition and planning skills, but with an advantage for girls. In this work we assessed the coding skills and response inhibition and planning skills of 109 Italian first graders, 45 girls and 64 boys, before an introductory coding course (pretest), when the children had no prior experience of coding. We then repeated the assessment after the introductory coding course (posttest). No statistically significant difference between girls and boys emerged at the pretest, whereas an advantage in coding appeared for boys at the posttest. Mediation analyses carried out to test the hypothesis of a mediation role of EF on gender differences in coding show that the gender differences in coding were not mediated by the children's EF (response inhibition or planning). These results suggest that other factors must be accounted for to explain this phenomenon. The different engagement of boys and girls in the coding activities, and/or other motivational and sociocognitive variables, should be explored in future studies.

Schools are searching for strategies to foster 4C competencies (Creativity, Cooperation, Communication and Critical Thinking) in children. Scientific Reasoning, Critical Thinking, and the ability to debunk myths are already important competencies that can be fostered with science education. How can we approach the majority of seventh grade students in a given school to create innovative approaches for the future, and leverage their skills in science, art and (digital) technology along the path? And are the teachers ready to guide them on this path? This article focuses on the questions: how did the teachers adopt both the STEAM approach, and the use of digital tools while being supervised by researchers and student teachers and how did this change their beliefs about technology in education. As a pathway, we aimed to connect Robotics, Coding, Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. To end poverty, protect the environment, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030, the SDGs are incorporated into national policies and school curricula. With this, citizens, teachers, and governments alike struggle with strategies on how these goals can be reached by 2030, facing the growing challenges in an ever increasingly complex and insecure world. It is clear that technology will take a dominant role in this development. Based on the STEAM paradigm and the 5E approach of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), we have developed a pedagogical concept that encompasses both the technological aspects, AI and the SDGs. We tested this concept as part of an on-the-job teacher training project with 60 education science student teachers and 8 teachers in their classrooms, together with their 116 7th grade students and found out that STEAM-based projects with a sixth phase in addition to the 5E approach can be carried out promisingly with the help of digital creativity tools. We found that the 5E model with an additional sixth phase is well suited for bringing STEAM into the classroom.

Computational thinking (CT) is a broadly used term in education to refer to the cognitive processes underlying the application of computer science concepts and strategies of problem-solving. Recent literature has pointed out the value of children acquiring computational thinking skills (i.e., understanding and applying concepts, such as conditionals, iteration, or generalization), especially while learning STEM subjects. Robotics has been used as a tool to introduce computational thinking and STEM knowledge to children. As physical objects, robots have been proposed as developmentally appropriate for the early childhood setting, promoting motivation and allowing young learners to represent abstract ideas in a concrete setting. This study presents a novel educational robotics (ER) intervention using RoboTito, a robot programmable through tangible elements in its environment designed for kindergarteners. We used a quasi-experimental design with an active control group. In addition, we conducted a structured observation of the filmed material of the sessions to gather data on children’s attention and motivation throughout the activities. Fifty-one children (male = 33; mean age = 66 months, SD = 5.49 months) attending level 5 (kindergarten) at a Uruguayan public school participated in the study. Children in our experimental condition participated in an intervention programming RoboTito using tangible elements, while children in our control condition played with the robot through sensory-motor activities using a remote control and did not engage in programming. Motivational and attentional factors were assessed through video-recorded sessions of the ER activities. Four trained observers blind to the experimental conditions participated in the coding. Children’s interactions were assessed in four categories: task engagement, distractibility, oral participation, and objective fulfillment. Our results suggest children’s task engagement mediated their gains in CT after the intervention; post-hoc Tukey contrasts revealed non-significant pre-test to post-test gains for the control and low engagement groups, and significant for the high engagement group. Overall, we conclude task engagement played a central role in children’s learning gains and our robotics intervention was successful in promoting CT for engaged children. We discuss the practical implications of our results for early childhood education and developmentally appropriate ER targeted for young learners.

Education digitization highly enthuses learners for deeper learning and developing thought processes in formulating problems and their solutions effectively in their real-life circumstances. Implementing computational thinking skills through programming in Malaysian primary and secondary school STEM curriculum create huge challenges, especially among STEM educators. This study highlights the integration of four major theories in developing the Metacognitive Empowerment by Computational Thinking (ME-CoT) learning module by cultivating computational thinking through programming skills to promote metacognitive awareness in Biology students. Pilot research was conducted to investigate the reliability of the ME-CoT learning module. Since the study sample was less than 30 students then, the consistency of the measurements, Pearson’s r was calculated to identify stability reliability. Findings revealed that the ME-CoT learning module has very strong stability reliability with a value of r = 0.974 and provides advantages such as assisting students to understand the content of the lesson more actively and in a fun way.