Date of Graduation
5-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction (PhD)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Curriculum and Instruction
Advisor/Mentor
Vinson Carter
Committee Member
Michael K. Daugherty
Second Committee Member
Christian Z. Goering
Keywords
delineating attributes; Delphi method; elementary teacher education; essential practices; integrated STEM education
Abstract
Throughout the past two decades policymakers, practitioners and researchers have been summoned to pursue best practices to address and implement improvements in STEM education for P-12 students (Archer, Moote, MacLeod, Francis, & DeWitt, 2020; Emrey-Arras, 2018; Hodson, 2003; National Research Council, 2012). Irrespective of the longstanding investment of time and resources towards STEM education, students’ patterns of STEM involvement in schools continue to be persistently unchanged (Archer, et al., 2020; Ro & Knight, 2016) and even fewer Americans are entering STEM disciplines in the workforce (National Science Foundation, 2018). The purpose of this three-article dissertation study is to support effective STEM education by exploring this long-standing phenomenon in STEM education. The first article, “Key Practices in P-6 Integrated STEM Education: Delphi Panel Insight” presents findings derived from a modified Delphi study that engaged expert teacher educators across the United States. The research centered on identifying crucial practices used by teacher educators to prepare candidates for integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teaching in P-6 classrooms. The second article, “Essential Practices and Attributes of Integrated STEM in Elementary Education” emphasizes the importance of aligning essential teaching practices with national STEM education goals to bridge the research-practice gap. This connection serves as the key to advancing STEM education beyond the fragmented disciplinary silos in science and mathematics, cultivating the engagement necessary for students to thrive in integrated STEM. Finally, the third article, “Connecting Compassion: Empathy's Role in STEM and Literacy Integration” denotes empathy as an unsung, yet critical element of learning, which can be intentionally interwoven with literacy instruction and engineering design to create a rich and authentic learning experiences for students. Leveraging children’s literature to evoke empathy and design thinking has the potential to equip students with improved problem-solving skills, critical thinking abilities, and compassionate mindsets, fostering students’ development as caring members of society
Citation
Cheek, L. R. (2024). Key Practices in P-6 Integrated STEM Education: A Delphi Panel Investigation. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/5237