The Future of Education
Techers Professional Development Framework: Challenges and Achievements Implementing E-Learning Course for STEAM
Ligita Zailskaitė-Jakštė, Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania)
Robertas Damaševičius, Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania)
Renata Burbaitė, Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania)
Abstract
The study aims to present the main challenges and achievements, which we faced seeking to implement teachers' professional development framework for the STEAM with educational robotics integration in MOOCs. The Erasmus+ project “Fostering STEAM Education in Schools (EDUSIMSTEAM)” WP2 conceptual and empirical results was used in this research.
The study consists of three stages: at first, a comprehensive framework for teachers’ professional development in STEAM was designed; second, an e-learning environment together with the curriculum for e-learning course was prepared; third, piloting of e-learning course, evaluation, and improvement was conducted in MOOCs.
Following the comprehensive literature review, we were able to identify 13 components that are crucial for STEAM teacher professional development: six main components and nine supporting components.
The curriculum was developed: Unit 1. Introduction to integrated STE(Α)M teaching & relevant teaching methods; Unit 2. STEAM subjects and how STEM careers are contextualized at school; Unit 3. Subject-specific details for teachers; Unit 4. Robotics.
Although 466 K12 teachers from Spain and Turkey expressed interest in attending this e-learning course, but only 129 trainees were awarded certificates. For the course evaluation we used qualitative and quantitate methods. The piloting was conducted in Spain and Turkey.
The main challenges of this study are related with holistic approach for the teachers’ professional development seeking to reflect the 21st-century needs implementation. As the biggest achievement we can emphasize the conceptual frameworks for the teachers professional development and implementation for the STEAM in e-learning course.
Keywords: Teacher Professional Development, E-Learning, MOOCs, STEAM, Educational Robotics
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