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STEM Education

2026, Volume 6, Issue 5: 826-847. doi: 10.3934/steme.2026033
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Research article

A needs analysis of humanizing STEM education through Scientist-Teacher-Student Partnership (STSP): Insights from science and humanities teachers

  • Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 22111780@siswa.um.edu.my, hidayahfadzil@um.edu.my, mnsyahrir@um.edu.my

  • Academic Editor: William Guo
  • Published: 12 August 2026

  • The global discourse on STEM education increasingly advocates integrating ethical, cultural, and social dimensions to ensure human-centered learning. Although the Scientist–Teacher–Student Partnership (STSP) has been proposed as a transformative approach to bridge disciplinary expertise and pedagogy, limited research has examined how teachers themselves conceptualize the need to humanize STEM in secondary education, particularly in the Malaysian context. To address this gap, this study adopted an interpretive qualitative design involving semi-structured interviews with 12 Malaysian secondary school teachers, comprising four science teachers and eight humanities teachers from History, Geography, Islamic Education, and Moral Education. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed three key themes: (1) Reconceptualizing STEM beyond technical knowledge, (2) strengthening teachers' support through partnerships, and (3) cultivating humanized STEM lessons. The findings reveal systemic and pedagogical barriers that constrain teachers' capacity to integrate moral, cultural, and contextual perspectives in STEM learning. By foregrounding teachers' voices, this study highlights the potential of the STSP framework as a collaborative platform to foster inquiry-based, ethically grounded, culturally and socially relevant STEM education. The study contributes to the global effort to re-envision STEM learning as a humanized, value-driven, and contextually responsive educational practice.

    Citation: Napisah Yahya, Hidayah Mohd Fadzil, Mohd Nor Syahrir Abdullah. A needs analysis of humanizing STEM education through Scientist-Teacher-Student Partnership (STSP): Insights from science and humanities teachers[J]. STEM Education, 2026, 6(5): 826-847. doi: 10.3934/steme.2026033

    Related Papers:

  • The global discourse on STEM education increasingly advocates integrating ethical, cultural, and social dimensions to ensure human-centered learning. Although the Scientist–Teacher–Student Partnership (STSP) has been proposed as a transformative approach to bridge disciplinary expertise and pedagogy, limited research has examined how teachers themselves conceptualize the need to humanize STEM in secondary education, particularly in the Malaysian context. To address this gap, this study adopted an interpretive qualitative design involving semi-structured interviews with 12 Malaysian secondary school teachers, comprising four science teachers and eight humanities teachers from History, Geography, Islamic Education, and Moral Education. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed three key themes: (1) Reconceptualizing STEM beyond technical knowledge, (2) strengthening teachers' support through partnerships, and (3) cultivating humanized STEM lessons. The findings reveal systemic and pedagogical barriers that constrain teachers' capacity to integrate moral, cultural, and contextual perspectives in STEM learning. By foregrounding teachers' voices, this study highlights the potential of the STSP framework as a collaborative platform to foster inquiry-based, ethically grounded, culturally and socially relevant STEM education. The study contributes to the global effort to re-envision STEM learning as a humanized, value-driven, and contextually responsive educational practice.



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  • Authors' biographies Napisah Yahya is a PhD candidate in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya. She is also a secondary school teacher and researcher. Her areas of expertise include qualitative research methodologies in education, STEM education, science education, secondary science education, biology education, university-school partnerships, and Scientist-Teacher-Student Partnerships (STSP). Her research interests focus on humanizing STEM, STEM education, science education, biology education, and STSP; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hidayah Mohd Fadzil is an academic and researcher in Science Education at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya. Her research focuses on STEM education, qualitative research methodologies in education, science curriculum development, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and biology education, with an emphasis on advancing meaningful and transformative learning experiences for teachers and students; Dr. Mohd Nor Syahrir Abdullah is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya. His research interests include science education, STEM education, physics education, neuroscience education, and mixed-methods research in education
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