Teacher professional development for STEM education: Adaptations for students with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

This research focused on examining the adaptations suggested by special school teachers for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) during a STEM education professional development (PD) program. How STEM education can be implemented into teachers’ daily teaching of their classes of ID students greatly depends on teachers’ readiness to adapt the ideas and tasks introduced in the PD program. Teachers’ responses to some questions were collected and analyzed to identify ways of adaptation to meet the needs of students with mild ID. It was found that most of the teachers’ remarks about designing STEM learning for special educational needs students were positive. Teachers’ suggestions for adaptation mainly focused on strategies to meet students’ needs with smaller steps/procedures, division of tasks among students with different abilities, provision of relevant background knowledge, being equipped with relevant tools, and awareness of safety precautions. The insights and experiences from this research are valuable for teachers involved in developing STEM education not only for ID students but also for any student who may need help in learning.