A Science Education that Promotes the Characteristics of Science and Scientists: Features of teaching

Abstract

Effectively teaching about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is far more complex than policymakers, the public, and even many teachers realize. Leinhardt and Greeno (1986, p. 75) write that “teaching occurs in a relatively ill-structured, dynamic environment”, and this is even more so the case when attempting to teach STEM through inquiry (activities that require significant student decision-making and sense-making, and the necessary pedagogical practices that support student learning in those experiences) and as inquiry (helping students understand how knowledge in STEM disciplines is developed and comes to be accepted)