Teaching Strategies Employed by Academics in STEM Education: A Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education needs a teaching workforce that is knowledgeable and skillful. Previous studies have reported the effectiveness of the delivery of the STEM education using the outcome-based education approach. Yet, the implementation of STEM education has been equally criticized. This study is a qualitative inquiry using the grounded theory approach to identify the teaching strategies employed by academics involved in STEM education in a leading private university in Malaysia. In particular, the inquiry focusses on the outcome-based education and its implementation in STEM education. Eight academics involved in STEM education from a private university in Malaysia were recruited using a purposive sampling procedure. In-depth interviews were conducted using semi-structured questions. The findings suggest that the participants are apprehensive of using outcome-based education in implementing STEM education and would require more training on this approach. The data yielded teaching strategies and challenges faced by STEM academics in the implementation of outcome-based education.