Current academic research bodies on STEM education focus on five perspectives of student ability enhancement, teacher training, curriculum integration, pedagogy and curricular implementation in intra-national/cross-national comparative studies. Noteworthy, there has been no comprehensive policy analysis of STEM education in secondary school curricula in Hong Kong. For STEM is not formally documented into school curricula and students mostly join inter-school and international STEM project competitions. International literature reveals that conceptions of STEM education are still fuzzy. In this paper, a 2 X 3 matrix is utilized to evaluate the extent of implementing STEM education in mainstream secondary schools in Hong Kong, and to envisage contextual difficulties and obstacles against STEM education. This paper then leads conceptual discussions on integrated approaches, draw policy implications and recommend further research agendas. Copyright © 2022 Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.

STEM education has taken on high importance in Hong Kong K-12 education landscape. Despite policy advocacy and curriculum endeavour, the quality of STEM education varies significantly between schools. Research literature indicates that high-quality STEM education requires teachers’ rigorous delivery of topics and appropriate pedagogies, and one approach to improve such practices is teacher professional development (TPD). However, because current research on TPD has not given explicit consideration to the complex nature of STEM education, there remains a lack of a clear blueprint of how TPD should be conducted to build teachers’ capacity for STEM education effectively. This paper presents a case study that explores the necessary attributes and identifies the missing links of STEM education TPD by understanding how various TPD models supported a Hong Kong K-12 school embracing STEM education. Qualitative data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews and classroom observations, were employed to draw a picture of TPD implementations in the selected school. The findings suggest that, at the macro-level, effective STEM TPD should not stop at employing mixed use of TPD models; the models have to be integrated organically with respect to a school-based STEM curriculum implementation approach. A collaborative culture between teachers must be cultivated for effective inter-disciplinary integration. Collaborative action research should also be promoted to develop collective wisdom of STEM pedagogies. At the micro-level, TPACK and cross-disciplinary integration skills need to be focusing areas of STEM TPD. With these guiding principles, some possible strategies for effective STEM education TPD are suggested. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Background Despite the focus of many global education systems on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, research on teachers' concerns about this relatively new educational phenomenon remains scarce. Purpose This study used the concerns-based adoption model as the theoretical framework to examine the primary concerns expressed by teachers about STEM education and identified a typology of teachers based on the response patterns of their concerns. Sample A regionally representative sample of 331 primary and secondary school teachers of STEM-related subjects in Hong Kong participated in this study. Design and methods Data were collected from the teachers through an online, self-reported survey. Latent class analysis was used to profile teachers' concerns about STEM education in this study, and multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to regress the latent class outcome variable on the covariates. Results The majority of the teachers reported high levels of concern at all five stages of STEM education implementation, namely evaluation, information, management, consequence, and refocusing. Latent class analysis revealed three classes of teachers who were extremely concerned (49.1%), considerably concerned (43.5%), or moderately concerned (7.4%) about STEM education. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that the teaching sector (primary or secondary) and participation in STEM education training significantly contributed to the prediction of the latent class outcome variable. Conclusion Given that 96% of the teachers in this study were trained in STEM education through workshops, seminars, courses, and trips, these findings highlight the necessity of designing personalized professional learning experiences for teachers and provide empirically supported evidence to indicate teachers' preparedness and readiness to adopt STEM education as an educational innovation and directions for future research in related areas. This

Mathematics is one of the core subjects in engineering education and forms the foundation of all disciplines in engineering. In Hong Kong, a significant number of students are admitted to engineering programmes without sufficient mathematical background. Engineering mathematics is essential for teaching and learning many fundamental and advanced engineering subjects. Due to this reason, a mobile application (app) is developed as one of the core components of engineering mathematics education by offering students flexible and self-initiated learning. In this study, a hypothesis model is proposed to investigate the effectiveness of student's learning in engineering mathematics with the developed mobile app. The results showed that the ease and convenience of using the mobile app have a positive effect on students' autonomous learning, and motivation and have a positive relationship with the learning effectiveness of the mobile learning (M-learning) app. It was found that the average marks of the assessment tests were significantly better than the screening test by using the app and notes. The current study has important implications in that the M-learning app should be used as a supportive role to supplement traditional teaching approaches. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

This article begins with a historical overview of the STEM education policy and related classroom practices in Hong Kong. Against the backdrop that the Hong Kong education authority has been promoting STEM education over the past few years, there has been a pressing need for effective strategies of implementing STEM education in the context of reduced class size classrooms (i.e. small class teaching). With a view to addressing this need, this article strives to exemplify the incorporation of STEM education into small class teaching settings. Intended as a conceptual paper drawing on design approaches for STEM lessons and a small class teaching framework, the article demonstrates the relevance of STEM education to small class teaching. Two illustrative lesson design examples are provided to showcase how the design approaches and framework can be operationalised. In addition, the article also offers a thoughtful discussion concerning the potential challenges of delivering the two sample lessons as well as the coping strategies. It contributes to understanding of STEM education theories and provides a valuable reference for educational practitioners. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

There is a strong need for educators to change the way they conduct aviation education to bring up future professionals in the industry. To cope with the COVID-19 challenge, creative online distance learning approaches become necessary. This article shows how an online lab approach offers social and cognitive support for engineering students to sustain their learning. A series of learning activities including flight simulation and virtual tours were held in an online lab setting by aviation professionals and lecturers at a university in Hong Kong to 35 undergraduate engineering students. The online lab encouraged students to apply knowledge into practice and develop their theoretical and conceptual knowledge through activities. Workshops focusing on aviation laboratory education aimed at students’ development of aviation theoretical and technical knowledge, collaborative skills, field-specific, and practical skills. A mixed research method was employed with the use of a motivational survey, teachers’ observation, and semi-structured interviews to understand students’ learning perceptions. This study found that the online laboratory activities could effectively motivate students to learn about aviation and improve their aviation knowledge cognitively and socially. It is recommended for online engineering educators to use lab technologies to teach aviation and related disciplines for future career preparation. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

Background and aims: Mathematics is one of the critical elements of STEM education. However, the importance of mathematics has not been fully emphasized in the practice of STEM education (Martín‐Páez et al., 2019). Promoting STEM education in mathematics education is one of the focal points of the Hong Kong school curriculum (CDC, 2017). In this study, we introduced an innovative STEM learning activity in the classroom based on the topic of 3D shapes in the primary mathematics curriculum. The aim was to provide an example of a school-based mathematics curriculum integrated with STEM education and offer teachers the design and development of STEM pedagogy.Methodology or process(es) undertaken: Focusing on the learning objective of recognizing the concept of 3D shape, we designed an interdisciplinary STEM learning activity in grade two in a Hong Kong primary school. Students learned the concept of a cylinder in the Funny Zoetrope Project. A curriculum consultant, a mathematics teacher and a visual art teacher collaborated to implement the whole teaching design within seven lessons (five mathematics lessons and two visual art lessons). A series of learning booklets were designed for teaching and learning. Regarding the process of preliminary preparation, teaching arrangement, course implementation, and after-class feedback, the STEM learning activity was incorporated into the school-based mathematics curriculum.Results and conclusions: The STEM learning activity based on the mathematical topic provides students with opportunities to see, know and understand the mathematical concept in STEM education. Students experience interdisciplinary learning during the process of making a zoetrope. They learn to integrate and apply knowledge and skills they have learned in mathematics and visual art. Some generic skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and self-assessment skills are also developed. Copyright © 2022 7th STEM in Education Conference.

Background and aims: The theoretical rationale of STEM education has originated from the curriculum integration theories. Numerous studies have discussed the integration of STEM education in covering the interconnected nature of the four disciplines and real-life problems. Three approaches have been widely mentioned, which included multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (Vasquez et al., 2013). Although teachers play a core role in designing and implementing STEM pedagogy at schools, little research explored mathematics teachers’ views of STEM. Hence, this exploratory study aims to explore mathematics teachers’ perceptions of STEM education to address the issue. Specifically, the study sought to describe the concerns and challenges faced by Hong Kong mathematics teachers in implementing STEM education, and to expand our understanding of implementing STEM education in mathematics teaching.Methodology or process(es) undertaken: By purposive sampling, nine Hong Kong mathematics teachers (4 primary, 5 secondary) were invited into online interviews. Interviewees were selected based on the criteria that they had taught mathematics in schools and had participated in STEM education. Their teaching experience ranged from 5 to 15 years. They were asked to report their views on the goals and values of STEM education, the approaches of STEM integration, challenges they faced, and its relationship to mathematics.Results and conclusions: It is found that two values of STEM education are recognized by Hong Kong mathematics teachers, which include promoting students' personal development and social technological innovation. Three integration approaches of STEM pedagogy (multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary) are identified. The transdisciplinary approach is most preferred, but the interdisciplinary approach is most adopted. Teachers perceives both internal and external challenges when implementing STEM at schools. The external challenges are related