Applications for participation in the project ”STEM Education for Science Teacher Candidates“ are received. The aim of the project is to introduce prospective teachers to practical activities within the scope of STEM education integration, to develop and implement specific applications towards this approach and to gain competencies to apply them. Thus, it is aimed to develop positive attitudes towards STEM education, to gain engineering and design skills and to raise awareness about such practices in project activities.
Goal
Nowadays, when science and technology are developing rapidly, countries aim to raise productive individuals who are able to keep up with these developments and who search, question and have 21st century skills. For this reason, STEM education, which includes the interdisciplinary approach of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in recent years and which enables the transfer of theoretical knowledge into applications and products, is considered worldwide.
Although STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach formed by different fields, it is possible to say that the main point is technology and engineering. The integration of STEM disciplines can be realized within the framework of engineering design. Engineering design process; this integration is necessary because it requires the use of basic engineering knowledge and skills and the principles of science and mathemat
Integrated STEM training is considered as an effort to find solutions to real world problems through interdisciplinary approaches by gaining 21st century skills such as creativity, problem solving, critical thinking (Bybee, 2010; Stohlmann, Moore, Roehrig and McClelland, 2011). In this context, student-centered approaches focusing on solving real-life problems such as problem-based learning, project-based learning and inquiry-based learning coincide with the mission of integrated STEM education (Bransford, Vye and Bateman, 2002; Smith, Douglas and Cox, 2009; Mustafa, Ismail, Tasir and Said, 2016). On the other hand, the existing elements of the STEM education approach (school, teacher, curriculum, assessment-evaluation approaches, teacher training programs, etc.) necessitate restructuring. Nowadays, these changes, which are required by STEM education in many developed countries, have started to be realized.
STEM education plays an important role in shaping culture and in economic development with a view to innovation, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving (Cooper and Heaverlo, 2013). It is important for students to experience such practices in order to increase the capacity of our country for scientific research and technological development, social and economic development and competitiveness. These practices help students to establish the connection between engineering and science, understand interdisciplinary interaction, and develop world views by making them experience and experiencing what they learn.
