The development and assessment of STEM skills in Australian high schools

Abstract

This thesis examines the development and assessment of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills within the context of Australian high schools. This is with a view to establishing what Australian employees consider STEM skills to be, the extent to which they can be developed within high schools, and whether the predominant means of their assessment are valid.

While the phrase 'STEM skills' is often used by all manner of stakeholders, very few articulate which specific skills they mean under this umbrella term. A survey of the literature, with a focus on the STEM skills desired by employers, was used to propose five domains of skills that are suitable for development within a high school context. These are: literacy; disciplinary; higher order thinking; interpersonal; and intrapersonal skills. Each of these are described in terms of the specific types of skills that fit within these domains. Year 7-10 STEM teachers from across Australia were surveyed regarding what they associate with the phrase STEM skills. It was found that there were many overlaps between skills identified from the literature and by teachers, but both sources included, and omitted, some skills the other did not.

The components of the Australian Curriculum pertaining to STEM in Years 7-10, the final years of compulsory STEM education, were examined to see what skills were articulated within the curriculum. These skills were compared with the skills identified from the literature. It was identified that the Technologies curriculum, Design and Technologies in particular, facilitates the development of the broadest range of skills and presents opportunities to engage with integrated STEM education. Teachers were also asked about their familiarity with aspects of the curriculum and the degree of support they felt it provided in developing STEM skills. A range of improvements would help to better support teachers to enable their students to develop the STEM skills Australian employers want.

Two international standardised tests, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) that are typically used to argue that Australia is falling behind in STEM were analysed. It was found that they both place a large focus on knowledge and that the higher order thinking skills they seek to assess can often only be effectively demonstrated if the student has the required background knowledge. Neither assess many of the STEM skills identified from the literature or by teachers and thus are proposed to be ineffective metrics, in and of themselves, for determining the level of Australian students' STEM skills.

The thesis concludes with recommendations and limitations as well as identification of future areas of research by way of suggesting how teachers could be better supported to develop the STEM skills in their students that Australia's employers want in their employees. Show more