Technology-enhanced stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education

Abstract

Over the past decade, STEM education has received increasing attention and also has been widely recognized as one of the major emphases in contemporary science education reform movements. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) involves the study of, and coherent integration among, various academic disciplines, especially the four cardinal disciplines of STEM. It has been advocated that STEM education could provide an opportunity for students to develop increasingly important 21st Century skills, such as complex problem solving, communication, and collaboration (Bybee 2010). Therefore, STEM education is becoming even more important in preparing students for work in the technologically advanced world and is vital for the nation's competitiveness in the global economy (Breiner et al. 2012). In recent years, many STEM-related instructional materials, curricula, and guidelines for instruction are emerging. While most of the initial attempts in STEM education addressed one or more of the STEM subjects separately, there are increasing advocates for emphasizing connections between or among the subjects in STEM education (Honey et al. 2014). As a result of the prior lack of integration, a great diversity of foci and contexts are often found in STEM-related research. The research contexts of some STEM-related studies may only involve one of the STEM