PROSPECTIVE PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON STEM LEARNING IN GRADE 9: THE PRINCIPLE OF CONTINUITY IN EDUCATION

TitlePROSPECTIVE PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON STEM LEARNING IN GRADE 9: THE PRINCIPLE OF CONTINUITY IN EDUCATION
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsCedere, D, Jurgena, I, Birzina, R, Kalnina, S
JournalProblems of Education in the 21st Century
Volume80
Issue1
Start Page69-81
PaginationContinuous
Date PublishedFebruary/2022
Type of ArticleOriginal article
ISSN1822-7864
Other NumbersE-ISSN 2538-7111
Keywordscognitive interest, continuity of education, prospective pre-school teachers, STEM learning
Abstract

The life quality of society and the stability of national economy is largely connected with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The complex character of STEM education demands informed teaching/learning strategies in order to make the 21st century youth interested in learning. The aim of the research was to find out the views of prospective pre-school teachers on Grade 9 students’ STEM learning, thus addressing the topical principle of continuity in education. A survey of 261 prospective pre-school teachers of the University of Latvia was performed. The obtained results show that in general the prospective pre-school teachers have some notion about the level of teaching/learning requirements in Grade 9 of the basic school, the integration of STEM and teaching/learning strategies. They acknowledge cognitive interest, inquiry-based learning and the importance of STEM knowledge and skills in the national development as significant, but little value is given to the exploration of nature in out-of-school time and to the importance of mathematical skills. More experienced respondents assess STEM learning higher. The given research raises the issue of the principle of continuity in education and gives a possibility to understand better the needs of prospective teachers in order to improve teacher education programs at the University.

URLhttps://oaji.net/articles/2022/457-1645650665.pdf
DOI10.33225/pec/22.80.69
Refereed DesignationRefereed
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