A Proposed TPACK Model of Teaching STEM with AI Components: Evaluating a Teacher Development Course for Fostering Digital Creativity

Abstract

In this study, a novel design of STEM activities was proposed with a focus on concepts of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) components for developing the problem-solving abilities and digital creativity of in-service primary teachers. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 6-hour course for developing primary school teachers’ competency in teaching AI-integrated STEM activities and developing their digital creativity. One hundred and ninety-one teachers from 108 primary schools attended the development course and completed survey and creativity evaluation. Teachers’ responses to surveys on the TPACK model and digital creativity evaluation sheets were collected. The paired t-test results indicated statistically significant improvement on all 17 TPACK items with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.213). For the digital creativity evaluation completed, 81.15% of the teachers demonstrated digital creativity and expressed their ideas in designing IoT systems and many of the designs included AI components. The paper concluded the implications of this study and future work were discussed.