Dear Colleagues,

The initiative of STEM education was proposed by the National Science Foundation in the US in the late 1990s. It was expected to provide students with critical thinking skills that would make them creative problem solvers and, ultimately, more marketable in the workforce (White, 2014). It typically includes educational activities across all grade levels, from pre-school to post-doctorate, and in both formal and informal classroom settings (Kennedy & Odell, 2014).

Recently, STEM education has been viewed as foundational for economic growth by many other countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Germany and China (Zhou, 2020). Driven by the movement, diverse research areas have been explored, including education reform (Talanquer, 2014), learning materials (Sirakaya & Sirakaya, 2020), academic culture (Suchman, 2014), education design (Lowrie et al., 2018), etc.

This Special Issue focuses on creative designs and models in STEM education. This involves the principles, processes, and practices of pedagogical designs and development of diverse teaching methods and instructional models. This also involves problem-based learning, project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, art-based learning, online teaching and learning, social emotional learning, diverse methods of active learning, etc. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Theories and concepts for developing creative designs and models;
• Technologies and tools that support processes of teaching and learning;
• Blended and hybrid learning environment design;
• Design methodologies in university teaching and learning;
• Models of continuing professional development;
• Participatory models and students’ engagement;
• The link between formal and informal learning environments;
• Evaluation of the creative pedagogical designs and models;
• Designing inclusive and accessible learning experiences and materials;
• Education design for 21^st century skills.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

White, D. W. (2014). What is STEM education and why is it important?. Florida Association of Teacher Educators Journal, 14(1), 1-9. 

Kennedy, T. J. & Odell, M. R. L. (2014). Engaging students in STEM education. Science Education International, 25(3), 246-258.

Zhou, C. (2020). Introducing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for Creativity and Innovation in Chinese Universities: Emerging Research and Opportunities. IGI Global.

Talanquer, V. (2014). DBER and STEM education reform: Are we up to the challenge?. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(6), 809-819.

Sirakaya, M. & Sirakaya, D. A. (2020): Augmented reality in STEM education: a systematic review. Interactive Learning Environments, DOI: 10.1080/10494820.2020.1722713.

Suchman, E. L. (2014). Changing academic culture to improve undergraduate STEM education. Trends in Microbiology, 22(12), pp. 657-659. 

Lowrie, T., Leonard, S. & Fitzgerald, R. (2018). STEM Practices: A translational framework for large-scale STEM education design. Educational Design Research, 2(1), 1-20.

Dr. Chunfang Zhou
Dr. Wei Zhang
Guest Editors

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• STEM education
• design
• instructional model
• practice
• technology
• teacher education
• 21st century skills
• participation
• assessment
• formal and informal learning
• inclusive education