Practical implications

The studies described in this dissertation provide practical implications for teacher practice, teacher education and continuing professionalization, and policy makers in STEM. First, some recommendations for teacher classroom practices are given.

6.5.1 Implications for teacher practice

The teachers that participated in the PLC described in chapter 4, were very positive about the learning opportunity in a group atmosphere, and the contact they had with other teachers of the subject O&O. This is congruent with literature that already indicates that teachers of integrated STEM find it important to work with colleagues and resources, and to receive

support in areas outside their expertise, time to prepare, implement and evaluate projects (Eijkelhof & Krüger, 2009; Shernoff et al., 2017). Schools could therefore offer opportunities for team-teaching or project work, and promote co-operation between teachers within or between subjects (Geraedts, Boersma & Eijkelhof, 2006) or even between teachers of different local schools. Since teachers’ experiences with connecting research and design are generally scarce, these co-operations should be supported by a facilitator. The teachers in chapter 4 also indicated a need for tools and materials regarding their pedagogies, for example a tool to let students choose between different research and design methods. As the studies in chapter 4 and 5 of this dissertation focused on how to facilitate the connection between research and design activities in STEM projects, some promising instructional strategies for this topic were found. Teachers developed two short instructional strategies that are described in chapter 4, the ‘Flip over signs’ and the game ‘Explain it!’. These are good examples of strategies that can be used within STEM projects to elicit a conversation in which teachers reflect with their students on the research process, the design process, and the ways in which research and design could be related.

The studies in this dissertation also provide some suggestions for teachers considering students’ ideas about research and design. Chapter 2 shows that students’ general attitudes towards doing research activities were less positive than their attitudes towards doing design activities. In chapter 5, the findings suggest that students generally view doing research as a ‘passive’ activity that most students regard as less enjoyable than design. Teachers should therefore provide their students with numerous possibilities for doing research other than report writing or literature searches, for example experimentation, simulation, interviews or testing prototypes. This is not only important for integrated STEM education, but for regular science education as well because doing research is often required by the curriculum in single science subjects. Chapter 5 also shows that some students were less willing to include research in their design projects if their autonomy was limited by a strict design protocol. The firm image held by students and teachers of what a design process should look like, contrasts the notion that instruction should be tailored to different students’ needs (Tomlinson, 2001). This could be due to students’ and teachers’ lack of experience with conducting or facilitating design projects, as research activities often receive more attention in science curricula than do design activities. Teachers could offer design projects in the regular science subjects as well, and be more flexible in their approach of the design cycle. Teachers should include alternative approaches to the design cycle which allow students to start from different steps in the design cycle, for example ‘reverse designing’, that was mentioned by one teacher in chapter 5. This was a successful strategy for some students, as it is known that they can indeed have difficulty to visualize non-existing products and make better sketches after they have modelled their artefacts first (Anning, 1997; Lemons et al., 2010). To prevent design fixation, a problematic phenomenon in design education that was

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mentioned by teachers in chapters 4 and 5, teachers should promote a focus on iterating processes instead of a focus on product completion.

6.5.2 Implications for teacher education and continuing professionalization

Teacher professionalization in pedagogies for research, design and the connection between research and design is needed. The studies in chapters 3, 4 and 5 illustrate that STEM teachers can have varying backgrounds and beliefs. To address all the different knowledge gaps that exist due to these differing backgrounds, it is important that ample time, support and professional development courses are provided to STEM teachers (Stohlmann et al. 2012). Chapter 3 also implies a special need for professionalization of non-science teachers who are beginning to teach STEM subjects. Teacher education and professional development should not only address the content of STEM projects, but the pedagogy for facilitating research and design should be emphasized as well. In addition, teachers should practice implementing these pedagogies in their classrooms, as reflecting on these actions strengthens teachers’ personal PCK (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002). Often, teacher professionalization courses are aimed at single STEM disciplines. Courses specifically aimed at integrated STEM could attract more STEM teachers and could enhance their willingness to attend such professional development opportunities. The results of chapter 4 are promising as they show that even in a short amount of meetings teachers can develop their knowledge on connecting research and design both individually and collectively.

It is also important that during teacher education and continuing professionalization, teachers gain some experience in conducting research and design activities themselves. The finding that teachers tend to break down the design process to a linear sequence of steps rather than emphasize the adaptive and iterative nature of the design process (chapter 5), implies that teachers are only routine experts in design themselves, probably due to little experience with (teaching) the design process (Christensen et al., 2018; McLellan & Nicholl, 2011). Teachers should become familiar with multiple models for research and design processes, in order to develop more sophisticated heuristics and to get a better idea of what research and design practices entail in the professional world. This could be achieved by letting teachers gain experience in STEM industries, for example through internships at institutes or companies (Bowen, 2018). Conversely, professionals from STEM industries could also temporarily join a team of STEM teachers, to enhance knowledge exchange between schools and professional STEM practice.

6.5.3 Implications for policy makers in STEM

Research and design processes are often used and combined in STEM professional practice where students might eventually end up, such as in industrial laboratories or technical universities. Therefore, it is important that students understand the ways in

which research and design activities can be connected to each other. However, research and design activities are still often applied in separate projects in STEM education. STEM education would therefore benefit from more integration between research and design in STEM projects because this would better reflect professional practices. The findings in this dissertation show that both students and teachers are able to understand the importance of this connection, but that teachers need support and materials to develop successful pedagogies regarding the integration of research and design. Merely combining research and design within a subject (take O&O for example, which literally means ‘research and design’) or within a project does not automatically ensure that students apply and connect both research and design activities. The findings described in chapters 4 and 5 indicate that students and teachers have very firm images of what a design process should look like. Educational materials should therefore include multiple models for research and design to illustrate that there are many possible ways in which to conduct a research or design. In addition, such a focus requires assessment practices that enable various ways for meeting the criteria, and for this, curriculum developers should provide rubrics or tools that offer guidance without being prescriptive.

The findings in this dissertation show that a frequent implementation of authentic research and design activities can decrease anxiety and enhance students’ confidence and self-efficacy. Therefore, it is important that all students are provided with regular experiences in conducting research and design activities in a STEM context. International and national curriculum developers could learn from subjects such as O&O and NLT, and implement similar projects in primary and secondary schools. Young children in primary school already have developed images of what science, or doing research, is (Zhai, Jocz & Tan, 2014). Therefore, it is important to start offering authentic research and design projects in a STEM context already at primary school, because by the time students enter secondary school, their images might already have solidified and are harder to change. The subject O&O provides suitable examples of projects for younger students in upper primary and lower secondary education, and projects can increase in size, complexity and STEM content knowledge over time. The subject NLT treats more in-depth STEM content knowledge, and its modules are therefore more suitable for older students who have elected science as a subject. Research and design activities such as employed in O&O and NLT should not only be available in elective subjects, but should also be employed on a frequent basis in regular science education to give students a more accurate and sophisticated image of STEM disciplines, and to prepare students for the STEM labour market.

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