Construction and Practice of STEM Education System for Primary and Secondary Schools

Currently, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has been the focus of global educational research and reform. Although much progress has been made in STEM education research, its implementation has not reached the desired end state. For this reason, the present study aims to promote the effective implementation of STEM education by specifying how to systematically construct a STEM education system. First, drawing on previous science education research, we propose that the STEM education system consists of the following six core components: education policy, subject curriculum, activity curriculum, teacher development, effective teaching, and education evaluation. Specifically, educational policy is the prerequisite for the other elements. Subject curriculum, activity curriculum, and effective teaching are the key components of STEM education. Teacher development is the basic guarantee and evaluation is the orientation. These six elements interact with each other under different conditions and jointly promote the development of the STEM education system. In addition, based on our many years of practical research, suggestions are made for the structure and implementation of each element.