Investigation On The Status And Sources Of Teachers’ STEM Education Knowledge

Teachers’ knowledge of STEM education is one of the key factors to develop STEM education.It is of great significance to develop teachers’ knowledge of STEM education in schools and improve the quality of STEM education.This study divides teachers’ STEM education knowledge into four dimensions,namely,“knowledge of STEM education connotation” “knowledge of STEM education value” “knowledge of STEM content” and “knowledge of STEM teaching”.In order to understand the status of teachers’ STEM educational knowledge and the sources of teachers’ STEM educational knowledge,110 in-service teachers,84 postgraduates of master of Education and 174 undergraduates of a normal university were selected as the research objects for a questionnaire survey.The mechanism of promoting teacher STEM education knowledge development from various sources was analyzed through interview.Based on the investigation and analysis,this study draws two conclusions about the status and sources of teachers’ STEM educational knowledge.The status of teachers’ STEM educational knowledge,Firstly,the opportunities for teachers to contact STEM education are common in different stages of development.In the three different development stages of primary and secondary education,higher education and in-service period,teachers of the three types generally believe that there are fewer opportunities to understand and contact STEM education in primary and secondary education,and 30-50% opportunities to understand and contact STEM education in higher education and in-service period.However,no matter at which stage they learn STEM education,the three types of teachers are mainly based on indirect experience.Secondly,teachers’ knowledge of STEM education is not comprehensive,and part of the knowledge varies with the stage of teachers.In terms of cognition of STEM education connotation,pre-service teachers have a low cognition level on the whole,and there are partial understanding and wrong understanding of STEM education connotation,among which the cognition level of postgraduates is slightly better than that of undergraduates.In terms of STEM content knowledge,there are significant differences among the three types of teachers in “physics knowledge”“engineering knowledge（E）” and “interdisciplinary knowledge（STEM）”.On the whole,the in-service teachers think that their mastery of “physics knowledge” is more sufficient than that of the pre-service teachers,while their mastery of the other two kinds of knowledge is less sufficient than that of the pre-service teachers.In terms of STEM teaching knowledge,there are significant differences between undergraduates and the other two types of teachers in the teaching knowledge of “mining and integrating STEM teaching resources” and “evaluating STEM learning process and results”.Undergraduates generally believe that they have a better grasp of these two types of STEM teaching knowledge than in-service teachers and postgraduates.In terms of the value of STEM education,the three types of teachers have a better understanding of the value of STEM education.Finally,in-service teachers face difficulties in carrying out STEM education.In-service teachers generally believe that external difficulties such as school conditions and resources affect STEM education more than their own difficulties in knowledge mastery.Teacher STEM Source of Education Knowledge,Firstly,the development of teachers’ STEM educational knowledge from various sources varies with the stage of teachers.In-service teachers’ overall thought during the period of “undergraduate or graduate course” “the independent reading since the induction” and “watching others STEM classes” to STEM the development of education knowledge most,during the“middle and primary school learning experience” “daily communication with your colleagues at work” and “entry since their own teaching experience” reflection on minimum;On the whole,“self-study in different periods” and “learning experience in primary and secondary schools” have the greatest effect on the development of STEM educational knowledge,while “undergraduate courses” “self-study in undergraduate period” and “educational practice in different periods” have the least effect.On the whole,pre-service undergraduates think that “undergraduate courses” and “self-study during undergraduate period” have the greatest effect on the development of STEM educational knowledge,while “undergraduate educational practice” has the least effect.Secondly,on the whole,courses in different periods have the greatest effect on the development of STEM educational knowledge of the three types of teachers,while educational practice in different periods has the least effect on the development of STEM educational knowledge.Based on the above conclusions,this study puts forward suggestions to promote the development of STEM educational knowledge.One is to perfect teacher education curriculum,strengthen theoretical teaching and skill training.Second,teachers should strengthen their learning and constantly enrich and improve their knowledge of STEM education.Third,schools should create favorable conditions to support STEM education and promote the professional development of teachers.