A comparative study of pre-service teachers&#39; perceptions on STEAM education in UK and China

Jingwen He; Shirley Simon; Feng-Kuang Chiang; Jingwen He; Shirley Simon; Feng-Kuang Chiang

doi:10.3934/steme.2022020

STEM Education

2022, Volume 2, Issue 4: 318-344. doi: 10.3934/steme.2022020

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Research article

A comparative study of pre-service teachers' perceptions on STEAM education in UK and China

1.
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
2.
Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK
3.
School of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

Academic Editor: William Guo

Received: 02 September 2022 Accepted: 02 December 2022 Published: 07 January 2023

As more countries emphasize the development of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) education, the training of professional pre-service teachers has received considerable attention. To explore Chinese and UK preservice teachers' understanding of STEAM education, their willingness to engage in STEAM-related occupations, and their attitudes toward various STEAM disciplines, this study designed a questionnaire to investigate the perceptions of 109 and 379 preservice teachers from the United Kingdom and China, respectively. A quantitative analysis revealed the following: (1) Preservice teachers lacked the understanding of STEAM education in general. (2) Chinese and UK preservice teachers had different overall understandings of STEAM education. (3) Both Chinese and UK preservice teachers had different opinions about the role of art in STEAM. (4) The scores of Chinese preservice teachers in the semantic questionnaire in each discipline were significantly higher than those of the UK teachers, and significant differences in gender and profession were observed. (5) No significant differences were observed between the total scores of the UK and Chinese participants on the career interest questionnaire. Finally, we combined the experiences of the Chinese and UK preservice teachers to provide recommendations for teacher training.
- preservice teacher,
- STEAM education,
- teacher training,
- China,
- United Kingdom
Citation: Jingwen He, Shirley Simon, Feng-Kuang Chiang. A comparative study of pre-service teachers' perceptions on STEAM education in UK and China[J]. STEM Education, 2022, 2(4): 318-344. doi: 10.3934/steme.2022020

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Abstract

As more countries emphasize the development of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) education, the training of professional pre-service teachers has received considerable attention. To explore Chinese and UK preservice teachers' understanding of STEAM education, their willingness to engage in STEAM-related occupations, and their attitudes toward various STEAM disciplines, this study designed a questionnaire to investigate the perceptions of 109 and 379 preservice teachers from the United Kingdom and China, respectively. A quantitative analysis revealed the following: (1) Preservice teachers lacked the understanding of STEAM education in general. (2) Chinese and UK preservice teachers had different overall understandings of STEAM education. (3) Both Chinese and UK preservice teachers had different opinions about the role of art in STEAM. (4) The scores of Chinese preservice teachers in the semantic questionnaire in each discipline were significantly higher than those of the UK teachers, and significant differences in gender and profession were observed. (5) No significant differences were observed between the total scores of the UK and Chinese participants on the career interest questionnaire. Finally, we combined the experiences of the Chinese and UK preservice teachers to provide recommendations for teacher training.

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Author's biography
Jingwen He is a PhD student in the Learning Technology program at the Ohio State University, US. She is specialized in quantitative research. Her research interests include motivation, student-teacher relationships, self-regulated learning, and engagement in the virtual learning context
;
Dr. Shirley Simon is an emeritus professor of science education at University College London Institute of Education, UK. She is specialized in scientific inquiry, cognitive acceleration, teacher learning and professional development. Her current research focuses on argumentation in science, attitudes to science and participation in science
;
Dr. Feng-Kuang Chiang is a professor at School of Education and the founding director of the Center for Future Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. He specializes in the innovative use of technology for teaching and learning purposes. His research interests include STEAM education, learning space, ICT in innovative instruction, robotics in education, some cross-disciplinary topics

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