Teaching integrated STEM in Korea

Structure of teacher competence

Abstract

The structure of teacher competence of integrated STEM education in Korea was investigated by literature and qualitative research. It was found that teacher competence is composed of three domains of cognitive characteristics, instructional skills, and affective characteristics as an important factor for teachers to carry out desirable integration in STEM education. By using behavioral event interview technique, qualitative data were collected from 11 superior and average teachers. The results showed that critical items of three domains of teacher competence are as follows: 1) teachers’ knowledge on other STEM subjects and ability to link between other subjects; 2) student centered activity and project based curriculum; 3) communication and cooperation between teachers and willingness and enthusiasm on integrated STEM. Based on these results, a structural model of teacher competence forintegrated STEM education in Korea was proposed.