Universal Journal of Educational Research Vol. 8(9), pp. 4122 - 4128
DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2020.080938
Reprint (PDF) (1172Kb)

Teachers and STEM Education: Collaboration across Disciplines and Implementation of Lessons in Two Subject Areas

Tang Minh Dung ^*, Vu Nhu Thu Huong , Nguyen Thi Nga
Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Vietnam

ABSTRACT

One of the difficulties of implementing STEM education in Vietnamese secondary school is the conflict between STEM education's interdisciplinary characteristics and the current monodisciplinary teaching in Vietnam. In this context, the paper mentions some scenarios from the collaboration of the teachers from different disciplines to develop and implement STEM education in high school, but these scenarios still retain the specific characteristics of each subject. Deriving from the ideas of the STEM product that is a spring scale, the teachers analyzed the program and textbooks to identify relevant knowledge. Then, applying the Engineering Design Process, two STEM lesson plans were designed and taught experimentally by a Mathematics teacher and a Physics teacher. For Mathematics, students collected data about the length of spring after hanging heavy objects. Then, working in the transformations between many functional registers like table, graph and algebraic expression, they found that the relationship between the length of the spring and the weight of the heavy object can be expressed by a linear function. For Physics, the experiment of measuring the displacement of the spring allows students to discover the invariants of the ratio between elastic force and the displacement of the spring (according to Hooke's law). In the end, the student successfully created portable spring scales in different ways. Therefore, these situations are proof to promote the natural science-subjects teachers' collaboration through the dominant perception as well as the contribution of each discipline in designing and implementing a STEM activity in the future.

KEYWORDS
STEM Education, Interdisciplinary, Collaboration, Linear Function, Hooke's Law

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Tang Minh Dung , Vu Nhu Thu Huong , Nguyen Thi Nga , "Teachers and STEM Education: Collaboration across Disciplines and Implementation of Lessons in Two Subject Areas," Universal Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 8, No. 9, pp. 4122 - 4128, 2020. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2020.080938.

(b). APA Format:
Tang Minh Dung , Vu Nhu Thu Huong , Nguyen Thi Nga (2020). Teachers and STEM Education: Collaboration across Disciplines and Implementation of Lessons in Two Subject Areas. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(9), 4122 - 4128. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2020.080938.