STEM education for the twenty-first century: A New Zealand perspective

Abstract

The Australasian Journal of TechnologyEducation is a peer refereed journal, and provides a forum for scholarly discussion on topics relating to technology education. Submissions are welcomed relating to the primary, secondary and higher education sectors, initial teacher education and continuous professional development, and general research about Technology Education. Contributions to the ongoing research debate are encouraged from any country. The expectation is that the Journal will publish articles at the leading edge of development of the subject area. The Journal seeks to publish • reports of research, • articles based on action research by practitioners, • literature reviews, and • book reviews. Abstract This paper clarifies the nature of STEM education and how it could fit within the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) structure. It also considers aspects of course design and adaptations of the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) required for successful inclusion within secondary school learning programmes. The paper also discusses some problems and challenges of developing such programmes which require students to interact with, or integrate knowledge from the science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning areas. It finds that rather than replacing established curriculum areas, a STEM course can run parallel to them providing extended learning opportunities for students which are not presently common in New Zealand.