Rumi Haraguchi^a,b, Miku Yoshida^a, Tadashi Ohtani^b

Current status of STEM/STEAM education in Japan through government-academia-industry cases

Contact Author: Rumi Haraguchi (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

^a Tokyo Gakugei Univ. Children Institute for the Future, Koganei-shi, Tokyo 184-8501, Japan

^b Graduate School of Education, Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei-shi Tokyo 184-8501, Japan

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

There is no doubt that STEM / STEAM education is a universal challenge. On the other hand, to enhance concrete efforts, it is important to promote it in the context of education in each country. Hence, this study aimed 1. to summarize the current situation of STEM / STEAM education in Japan and disseminate it overseas, and 2. to share the challenges of "Tokyo Gakugei Univ. Children’s Institute for the Future (CIF)" to discuss further developments in the global context.

Kai-Lin Yang, Xiao-Bin He, Wan-Rou Wu, Chai-Ching Yang

Different academic background teachers’ conceptions of the roles of mathematics in Taiwan STEM education

Department of Mathematics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei(116), Taiwan

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

To enhance national competitiveness under the trend of globalization, various countries have paid attention to the cultivation of students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields and their integration at K-12 stage (e.g. National Governors Association [NGA], 2007; Project Lead the Way, 2014). In Taiwan, STEM education is also mentioned in the latest syllabus to develop students’ 21^st century skills (Ministry of Education, 2014). Teachers play key roles in designing and implementing STEM tasks, and then their conceptions would influence the effectiveness of STEM education (Vescio et al., 2008). Mathematics, as a minor subject in current STEM education, needs to be highlighted in the future STEM education (Barry, 2014). To better understand the potential roles of mathematics in STEM education, the aim of this study is to investigate different academic background teachers’ conceptions of the roles of mathematics in Taiwan STEM education. Comparing secondary school teachers with different academic background in Taiwan contributes to expanding the roles of mathematics in STEM education.