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Learning to teach STEM disciplines in higher education : a critical review of the literature

Winberg, Christine ; Adendorff, Hanelie ; Bozalek, Vivienne ; Conana, Honjiswa ; Pallitt, Nicola ; Wolff, Karin ; Olsson, Thomas LU and Roxå, Torgny LU (2019) In Teaching in Higher Education 24(8). p.930-947
Abstract

Enrolments in STEM disciplines at universities are increasing globally, attributed to the greater life opportunities open to students as a result of a STEM education. But while institutional access to STEM programmes is widening, the retention and success of STEM undergraduate students remains a challenge. Pedagogies that support student success are well known; what we know less about is how university teachers acquire pedagogical competence. This is the focus of this critical review of the literature that offers a theorised critique of educational development in STEM contexts. We studied the research literature with a view to uncovering the principles that inform professional development in STEM disciplines and fields. The key finding... (More)

Enrolments in STEM disciplines at universities are increasing globally, attributed to the greater life opportunities open to students as a result of a STEM education. But while institutional access to STEM programmes is widening, the retention and success of STEM undergraduate students remains a challenge. Pedagogies that support student success are well known; what we know less about is how university teachers acquire pedagogical competence. This is the focus of this critical review of the literature that offers a theorised critique of educational development in STEM contexts. We studied the research literature with a view to uncovering the principles that inform professional development in STEM disciplines and fields. The key finding of this critical review is how little focus there is on the STEM disciplines. The majority of studies reviewed did not address the key issue of what makes the STEM disciplines difficult to learn and challenging to teach.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
academic development, engineering and mathematics (STEM), pedagogical competence, professional development, Science, technology
in
Teaching in Higher Education
volume
24
issue
8
pages
18 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85053281950
ISSN
1356-2517
DOI
10.1080/13562517.2018.1517735
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
73658aad-90d2-4af9-9b0a-078a2a25447e
date added to LUP
2018-10-24 12:22:51
date last changed
2022-04-25 18:04:28
@article{73658aad-90d2-4af9-9b0a-078a2a25447e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Enrolments in STEM disciplines at universities are increasing globally, attributed to the greater life opportunities open to students as a result of a STEM education. But while institutional access to STEM programmes is widening, the retention and success of STEM undergraduate students remains a challenge. Pedagogies that support student success are well known; what we know less about is how university teachers acquire pedagogical competence. This is the focus of this critical review of the literature that offers a theorised critique of educational development in STEM contexts. We studied the research literature with a view to uncovering the principles that inform professional development in STEM disciplines and fields. The key finding of this critical review is how little focus there is on the STEM disciplines. The majority of studies reviewed did not address the key issue of what makes the STEM disciplines difficult to learn and challenging to teach.</p>}},
  author       = {{Winberg, Christine and Adendorff, Hanelie and Bozalek, Vivienne and Conana, Honjiswa and Pallitt, Nicola and Wolff, Karin and Olsson, Thomas and Roxå, Torgny}},
  issn         = {{1356-2517}},
  keywords     = {{academic development; engineering and mathematics (STEM); pedagogical competence; professional development; Science; technology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{930--947}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Teaching in Higher Education}},
  title        = {{Learning to teach STEM disciplines in higher education : a critical review of the literature}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1517735}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/13562517.2018.1517735}},
  volume       = {{24}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}