A meta-analysis on effective strategies for integrated STEM education

Abstract

STEM education reform plays a critical role in modern education for the country to keep abreast of being competitive in global economy. For a long time, STEM disciplines have been in silos, rendering the students unable to connect learned knowledge with real life problems. The emergence of integrated STEM education in some institutions suggests that, this approach makes students better problem solvers and logical thinkers. This paper provided an overview of what teaching strategies dominate in the implementation of integrated STEM education. The research methodology was based on a review of relevant literature search strategy through ERIC, online databases and journals such as Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, Taylor and Francis Online, SpringerLink, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, JSTOR and Journal of STEM Education. The keywords used in the search included integration strategies, science and technology, teaching and learning STEM, STEM in primary school, STEM in secondary school and STEM in higher education. The results of this meta-analysis revealed that, a project-based learning approach is the dominant strategy in STEM education implementation as this method improves the students’ skills and their capability to compete with others in the highly knowledge-based society. Findings from this review will lead educators who are new to STEM education to investigate further on how project-based learning could be effectively implemented in their teaching.