Interest in STEM disciplines and teaching methodologies. Perception of secondary school students and preservice teachers

Abstract

The paper addresses the lack of interest that Secondary Education students display towards the academic disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). From the pedagogical standpoint, the origin of this problem may lie largely in the way these subjects have predominantly been taught, i.e. using expository strategies. The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the retrospective perception that preservice teachers recall about the methodologies used for teaching STEM disciplines, coupled with analysis of the value these teachers give to a number of innovative activities used to encourage interest among their future students. A second objective was to compare those perceptions with a sample of high school students’ assessment of the actual activities their teachers used in STEM disciplines. Our results revealed the predominance of traditional teaching activities in both teachers and students, although the perception of this is slightly lower among students. Practical and applied activities in laboratories and first-hand knowledge of technoscientific work were perceived as the most interesting activities, although teachers used these less frequently than other activities. Conclusions are aligned with the achievement of a range of varied and innovate learning opportunities seeking a more engaging way of teaching STEM.