Abstract:

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is an abbreviation that is on the agenda of educational platforms both in Turkey and around the world in recent times. When it comes to STEM education, it is an educational reform that has been put on the table of American educators particularly by industrial leaders due to the lack of workforce in the STEM areas. In parallel with these developments, this education has been incorporated into Turkish Science Education programs. Both the dissimilarity of the starting points and uncertainties as to how this education would be applied in school environments in terms of content, learning outcomes and purposes are crucial problems for Turkish context. At this point, the purpose of the present study was to uncover the STEM academicians’ beliefs about the relationships between Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology and to develop a pedagogical framework using a Post-Normal Science (PNS) approach. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 STEM academicians who were the experts in one of the STEM areas in one of the top universities in Turkey. The questions about definitions of Science, Math, Engineering and Technology, the relationships among these areas and society and the importance of ethics in these areas were asked. After the content analysis of the transcripts, we concluded that a pedagogical framework for STEM could be developed and it could include five dimensions: 1) The definitions of Science, Math, Engineering and Technology, 2) The relationships among Science, Math, Engineering, Technology and Society, 3) Common aspects, differences and benefiting from each other, 4) Responding post-normal questions based on the evidence, 5) Ethical aspects.

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