Thursday 24 November 2022. 12:30pm - 1:00pm
Francis Stonier, Dingxiang Xie, Michael Agyemang Adarkwah
Taking STEAM training online to Guizhou
Contact Author: Francis Stonier (
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Southwest University, Chongqing, China 400715
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Early childhood teachers in a variety of Chinese settings have expressed interest in learning more about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) curriculum activities. Since 2020 an American professor who has joined a Chinese faculty of education in Chongqing has been offering STEAM professional development to pre-service and in-service teachers, and administrators. Up until recently this has always been done face-to-face and held either at a university or school setting. The decision to offer synchronous online training was made rather than cancel the professional development for the 2nd year in a row for kindergarten teachers in Guizhou.
The curriculum choices were made keeping in mind a variety of factors such as cost, ease of acquiring, and practicality for classroom use. Participants were given a materials list in advance. Tencent Meeting and WeChat were the platforms in use for the sessions. The training sessions were essentially identical servicing two groups of approximately 50 teachers each. A translator assisted throughout the entire session, and a technological assistant was also on hand to offer audio, video, and connectivity support. Over a three-hour period, five (5) individual STEAM activities were conducted. Images from the participants' work were constantly shared to ensure understanding and participation. Following the sessions, a link for an online survey was provided where participants had the option of providing a response.
