Insights into stem education praxis: an assessment scheme for course syllabi
Author(s)
Date
2013Source Title
Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri
Print ISSN
1303-0485
Publisher
EDAM
Volume
12
Issue
4
Pages
2477 - 2485
Language
Turkish
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
255
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187
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Abstract
Post-secondary institutions within the European Higher Education Area have been adapting quality assurance
mechanisms for course design, delivery, and evaluation following a learner-centered approach. The purpose of
this exploratory study was to delineate the teaching practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at the postsecondary level through an assessment of course syllabi. An analytical rubric was developed
with the STEM community, STEM education, and STEM assessment factors in order to assess teaching practices through syllabi of the courses offered at a public university within the European Higher Education Area.
Data were analyzed at the item level using a Mann-Whitney non-parametric test and at the factor level with an
independent t-test. Results showed that there were statistically significant differences between the externally
accredited and non-accredited programs in STEM_education and STEM_assessment variables (p 0.01), which
indicated a practical significance in favor of accredited programs. There was reason to believe that the external
accreditation process has a positive impact on instructors in encouraging them to align their syllabi with the
STEM education praxis under the influence of the student-centered teaching and learning paradigm.