Technology and Engineering for Integrated STEM

Synthesised Findings from a Research Programme on Authentic STEM Education

Abstract

STEM is arguably one of the most widespread and enduring educational visions of the early 21^st century. Yet its meaning is largely unclear in a technology and engineering education context, for example, whether integrated STEM represents a sought-after epistemological position or merely a method for teaching technology and engineering. The present paper aims to synthesise research findings from the aSTEM research programme, which investigated the affordances of models and modelling for authentic STEM education, specifically in upper secondary technology and engineering education. In this paper we therefore conduct a qualitative evidence synthesis of all results generated within the research programme, as reported in the published articles and chapters from 2019-2025. The most important findings emerging from the research programme indicate that integrated, authentic STEM education must be taught in ways that are both interdisciplinary (STEM) and that respect the integrity of each included subject domain (S|T|E|M). Consequently, such an approach should be taught by specialised teachers who possess both strong subject knowledge and the ability to integrate disciplines. Furthermore, authentic STEM education projects are often viewed as being primarily technology- and engineering-based (engineering design), although they are not always explicitly labelled as such. Lastly, the research programme demonstrates that STEM subject integration is easier said than done, since in practice the integration of STEM content and methods rarely draws on more than two disciplines.