Transformative Perceptions of In-Service Teachers towards STEM Education: The Vietnamese Case Study

Abstract

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has attracted numerous concerns of scholars and governments. In order to implement the school curriculum on the approach of STEM education, the training of in-service teachers plays an important role. This study conducted the transformative perception of Vietnamese in-service teachers in secondary schools towards STEM education after they had participated in the teacher professional development program (TDP) on engineering designed-based approach hold on by the Second Upper Secondary Education Development Project 2. Having two separate online and offline phases, the course was designed under the format of TDP developed by Garet et al. In order to assess participants’ demographics and their perceptions on STEM education, the instrument was generated on the basis of modification from several previous studies upon engineering design-based learning and to adapt the theme of STEM content knowledge (CK) and STEM pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for in-service teachers. Full data sets were conducted with 150 participants from 11 provinces of Vietnam who had completed all surveys with the help of Google Form at the beginning and the end of TDP’s offline phase. The data were cleaned, then analyzed with SPSS version 20 to assure the validity and reliability. Findings from this study show the positive effectiveness and suitability of the course on the in-service teachers’ attitudes towards STEM education, which consequently allow to suggest the future similar courses design.