Challenges of STEM Education

Aida Suraya Md. Yunus

Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords: STEM Education, STEM Thinking, Malaysian Mathematics Performance

Abstract: STEM initiatives and STEM education tend to be assumed as the need to strengthen science, technology,

engineering and/or mathematics separately as different subjects. This paper discusses the concept of STEM

education, the need to focus on STEM, and the challenges that school teachers face in implementing STEM

education. STEM education requires interdisciplinary approach to teaching that integrates at least two of the

subjects in STEM. Lack of STEM participation which refers to students taking up science stream in upper

secondary education in Malaysian schools consequently results in the country not meeting its enrolment target

of 60 percent of students in science and technology related programmes in tertiary education. This paper also

highlights on the state of mathematics learning which greatly influences the success of STEM education. The

main contributing factor in the poor performance of Malaysian students in international mathematics tests is

the students’ inability to answer questions that require higher order thinking skills (HOTS). This has brought

about revision of the school curriculum and assessment. Core competencies needed and strategies to enhance

STEM education are suggested.

1 INTRODUCTION

The term STEM initiatives and STEM education

are used by many educators in Malaysia to reflect the

effort towards improving science, technology,

engineering, or mathematics (STEM) especially at the

school level. The elaboration of the four subjects as

provided by the National Research Council, United

States are as follows:

i. Science is the study of the natural world,

including the laws of nature associated with

physics, chemistry, and biology and the

treatment or applications of facts, principles,

concepts, or conventions associated with these

disciplines.

ii. Technology comprises the entire system of

people and organization, knowledge, processes

and devices that go into creating and operating

technological artifacts, as well as the artifacts

themselves.

iii. Engineering is body of knowledge about the

design and creation of products and a process for

solving problems. Engineering utilizes concept

in sciences and mathematics and technological

tools.

iv. Mathematics is study of patterns and

relationships among quantities, numbers, and

shapes. Mathematics includes theoretical

mathematics and apply mathematics.

STEM initiative in Malaysia is designed to

prepare students with skills to meet the challenges of

science and technology and to ensure that Malaysia

has sufficient number of qualified STEM graduates.

Special programmes for STEM include stimulating

student interest in STEM through new learning

approaches and an enhanced curriculum, sharpening

the skills and abilities of teachers in STEM, and

building public and student awareness of STEM. The

number of instructional periods for science has been

increased and science laboratories in secondary

schools were upgraded. Likewise, science rooms are

upgraded into laboratories in primary schools

(Ministry of Education Malaysia, MOE

2014). Teachers are to conduct the STEM

approaches in schools by getting students to:

i. Question and identify problems;

ii. Develop and use models;

iii. Plan and conduct experiments;

iv. Analyse and interpret data;

v. Use mathematics thinking and

computational thinking;

vi. Explain and design solutions;

Md. Yunus, A.

Challenges of STEM Education.

DOI: 10.5220/0009914200450052

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 45-52

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

vii. Be involved in debates and discussions

based on evidences.

Malaysia had also developed the STEM Education

Conceptual Framework (MOE, 2016) which details

out the STEM experience for students according to

the learning stages. Edy Hafizan, Ihsan and Halim

(2017) indicated that during early childhood, children

are given the freedom to explore so as to trigger and

foster their interest through activities that can

stimulate curiosity. At the primary school level, they

are exposed to the basic of STEM knowledge

allowing them to make connection with daily life

situations through investigation and exploration

activities and to have meaningful experiences. At the

lower secondary education level, they are encouraged

to analyse local and global issues as well as engaging

in problem solving activities to help them grow and

develop STEM skills. At the upper secondary level,

the activities involve strengthening and enriching

STEM skills. Lastly, at tertiary level, STEM

education expose students with coping strategies to

prepare them for STEM career challenges, the

industry and community and to contribute to nation

development through innovation.

2 STEM EDUCATION

In a small study conducted by Nur Farhana and

Othman (2017), they concluded that teachers’

understanding about implementation of STEM is

insufficient. Teachers are talking about strengthening

individual subjects rather than focusing on the

interdisciplinary approach to implementation of

STEM. The campaigns are on promoting “Love for

Science” and “Love for Maths”. Thus the initiatives

that have been put forth in STEM movements include

increasing STEM awareness, raising student

outcomes and interest through new learning

approaches, improving laboratory facilities and

sharpening skills and abilities of teachers.

STEM Education may have been generally

assumed by implementers as the enhancement of each

of the four STEM subjects. Several authors provide

almost similar definitions as the following.

STEM education is an interdisciplinary

approach to learning where rigorous

academic concepts are coupled with real

world lessons as students apply science,

technology, engineering, and

mathematics in contexts that make

connections between school, community,

work, and the global enterprise enabling

the development of STEM literacy and

with it the ability to compete in the new

economy. (Southwest Regional STEM

Network, 2009, p. 3)

STEM education has to be interdisciplinary,

borderless and require learners to make connections

with real life contexts. Thus, it would require

integrating concepts of science, technology,

education, and mathematics in projects, problem-

based learning projects, or case studies to help

students connect what they learn to authentic or real-

world contexts. All these years, these concepts have

been taught through separate subjects in schools and

by different teachers who have different fields of

expertise.

2.1 Challenges in Implementing STEM

Education

In the context of higher education, STEM

education is much easier realized because there are

many opportunities for students to be involved in

solving real world problems. They may integrate

concepts that they have acquired through several

courses and culminating them in capstone project,

problem-based learning projects, case studies,

industrial practices, research projects and field works.

For this reason, university lecturers are encouraged to

obtain their professional licence and to do industrial

attachments allowing them to keep abreast with the

demands of the workplace and to ensure the contents

that they teach remain relevant to the needs of the

industry. As such, professional engineers in

Malaysia may use the designation “Ir” before their

names to indicate that they have met the highest

professional standards and is registered by the Board

of Engineering Malaysia.

Before dwelling more on STEM education, we

need to think whether there would be enough

opportunities for school teachers to have the industry

experience and on how we can get them connected to

the industries. In the higher education context,

lecturers have opportunities for sabbatical leave or

industrial attachment leave. Similar kinds of benefits

or opportunities need to be made available for

teachers if STEM education is to be fully realized in

the way that it should be conducted. They may not

end up with Ir (for professional engineers) or Ar (for

professional architects) since they probably have

degrees in education rather than professional degrees

ICRI 2018 - International Conference Recent Innovation

such as engineering or architecture. But with degrees

in education, would the teachers be able to connect

with the people and gain as much from industries.

‘Getting connected’ is of utmost important for the

teachers to acquire ‘STEM thinking’. Reeve (2015)

introduced the term STEM thinking which he defined

as ‘purposely thinking about how STEM concepts,

principles, and practices are connected to most of the

products and systems we use in our daily lives.’ The

question is, if teachers do not have the chance to get

connected, how do they develop STEM thinking?

This is where experts from universities and industries

may take it as their responsibility to conduct STEM

programmes in the schools, provide instructional

materials, and training-of-trainers for the teachers.

Universities and industries should also bear some

responsibility to share real world problems, give

talks, guest lectures, briefings for teachers and

provide opportunities for school visits. Parent-teacher

association may also strengthen their role by

coordinating parents’ active involvement in

providing STEM education in schools.

In Malaysia, STEM education is more fully

explored in technical vocational education and

training (TVET) schools/institutions but less so, in

normal academic schools. TVET schools/institutions

were established to meet the needs of highly skilled

workforce to support the growth of the industrial

sector by providing formal, non-formal and informal

learning that prepare young people with the

knowledge and skills required in the world of work.

Most of the tasks that need to be completed would

require an integration of knowledge of STEM

subjects or parts of it.

2.2 The Need to Strengthen STEM

Education

Bertram (2014) in his book ‘One nation under-

taught: Solving America’s science, technology,

engineering, and math crisis’ highlights the

importance of STEM education through his statement

that the United States will produce more than 1.8

million STEM jobs by 2018 and is expected that

STEM-related jobs will grow at a faster rate than

other fields. What is alarming is that he asserted an

estimated 1.2 million of these STEM jobs would not

be filled because the current US workforce does not

possess the skills to fill them. According to The

National Council for Scientific Research and

Development, Malaysia needs a workforce of

493,830 people in STEM related industries by 2020.

This requires a rate of increase of STEM of about

31% per year (Ministry of Education Malaysia,

2013). Under-participation in STEM education could

well be a global issue. For developing countries such

as Malaysia and Indonesia, serious measures must be

taken to produce the much needed workforce for

STEM jobs.

Realizing the constraints in fully realizing STEM

education in Malaysian Schools, STEM Initiative was

boldly emphasized in Malaysia Education Blueprint

(MEB) 2013-2025 (Ministry of Education Malaysia,

2013) as a ‘laying the foundations at the school level

towards ensuring that Malaysia has a sufficient

number of qualified STEM graduates to fulfil the

employment needs of the industries that fuel its

economy’ (pg 4-6).

Malaysian government instituted the 60:40

Science/Technical: Arts Policy in education in 1967

and started implementing it in 1970. This means

intake for higher education should be 60% in science

and technical fields while 40% are in Arts and

Humanities fields. The target needs to be met in

facing challenges and demands of STEM-driven

economy by 2020 (Ministry of Education, 2013).

Malaysia has been facing fewer prospective

students for higher education in science and

technology. In upper secondary school (Year 9),

students will have to choose the stream. The choices

are academic stream (Science/Art), Technical and

Vocational Stream, and Religious Stream. The

number of students choosing science related fields

continued to decline over the years (Halim and

Subahan, 2016). Students who are eligible to be in the

science stream but choose not to do science in the

upper secondary school has increased to 15%.

The number of students who have chosen STEM

fields has continued to decline in recent years (Halim

& Subahan, 2016). As reported in 2016, only 42% of

secondary school students in Malaysia chose to do

Science, including technical and vocational

programmes (Curriculum Development Centre,

2016). Thus, the target of 60:40 Science/Technical:

Arts has not been achieved. There are not enough

eligible science candidates from schools to fill up the

places provided in higher education institutions.

Among the factors identified by Ministry of

Education on the declining participation in science

stream are perceived difficulty of STEM and its

content-heavy curriculum. Measures are undertaken

to meet these aims which include (i) raising student

interests through new learning approaches and an

Challenges of STEM Education

enhanced curriculum, (ii) sharpening skills and

abilities of teachers, and (iii) building public and

student awareness. Other strategies undertaken are

establishing school improvement specialist coaches

(SISC+) for Mathematics and Science and conducting

diagnostic exercise to identify gaps in content

knowledge and pedagogical skills among teachers.

Schools have been giving special attention to inquiry-

based learning, problem solving, contextual learning,

collaborative learning, project-based learning to

improve performance as well as getting students

motivated in learning of STEM. The SISC+ play a

critical role as the content as well as the pedagogy

expert.

To ensure the success of implementing STEM and

to get students ready for STEM-related jobs, they

need to have considerable mathematical competence.

This paper also focuses on the state of mathematics

achievement of Malaysian students which influences

the success of STEM education. Solving real world

problems involving science, technology and

engineering would require application of

mathematical knowledge. In other words,

mathematics is fundamental to STEM education.

Volmert et al. (2013) explains the role of mathematics

in STEM “math as part of the basics, science as

important but secondary, and technology and

engineering as supplementary add-ons that are only

appropriate ‘later’ and for ‘some students’” (p. 5).

3 STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICS

PERFORMANCE

The MEB 2013 - 2025 sets the target and direction

for Malaysian Education to be at par with

performance of developed countries. Thus, under-

performance of Malaysian students’ in mathematics

has been a growing concern for all stakeholders. This

had prompted major changes in teaching approaches

and assessment methods. Curriculum planners,

mathematics educators and researchers, and

technology experts work collaboratively to provide

better learning experiences for students.

Trends in Mathematics and Science Study

(TIMMS) and Programme for International Student

Assessment (PISA) have been used as benchmarks to

indicate Malaysia’s ranking based on international

average scores in these major tests. TIMSS 2011

results triggered the alarm for Malaysia since the

2003 complacent stage. The declining results of

Malaysian students in these international assessments

are often publicised by media, meetings and forums

and are frequently raised by ministers and politicians.

As a result, The MEB 2013 – 2025 (Ministry of

Education Malaysia MOE, 2013) paid special

attention to student cognitive performance against

international standards.

TIMSS which is conducted every four years by

the International Association for the Evaluation of

Educational Achievement (IEA) is a large scale

assessment that inform participating countries and

their policy makers on the students’ performance and

provide a cross country comparison. PISA,

developed by the Organisation for Economic

Cooperation and Development (OECD) is conducted

every three years to measure students’ performance in

mathematics, science and reading literacies. The

focus of PISA is on assessing understanding and

application of knowledge and skills in solving

problems to meet future challenges. In 1999,

Malaysia exceeded the TIMSS international average

with a score of 519 but the performance declined to

merely 440 points in TIMSS 2011. However, with

much effort and strategies, Malaysia managed to

improve the score to 465 in TIMSS 2015. Singapore,

Korea, Taipei, Hong Kong and Japan maintain as top

achievers in TIMSS all these years.

The results of TIMSS and PISA revealed that

Malaysian students lack the ability in doing problem

solving. Through analysis and reflections on teaching

and learning practices, it can be concluded that the

students lack opportunity and exposure to develop

higher order thinking skills (HOTS). Thus, it was

timely to introduce the new curriculum for primary

school known as Standard Curriculum for Primary

School (KSSR) in 2011 starting with Year 1 and the

new school-based assessment that focuses more on

improving HOTS and to reduce ‘teaching for

examination’ practices. HOTS is defined by MOE as

the ability to apply knowledge, skills and values in

reasoning and reflection in solving problems, making

decision, to innovate and to create. In line with the

emphasis on HOTS, major change in national

examinations was also made and this include

increasing apportionment of HOTS questions in the

examinations. Other measures taken include

retraining of teachers to integrate HOTS in classroom

instruction and assessment.

The focus on HOTS had started to show some

positive impact. According to the TIMSS 2015 report

(Mullis et al, 2016), Malaysia was among 18

ICRI 2018 - International Conference Recent Innovation

countries that recorded improvements when it scored

465 points, an increase of 25 points as compared to

TIMSS 2011. However, the number of students at the

advanced benchmark is only 3%, a mere increase of

1% from TIMSS 2011. The following table provides

a comparison between Malaysia and Indonesia on

percentage of respondents who are categorized in the

advanced, high, intermediate and low benchmarks in

TIMSS. Despite numerous efforts to improve

students’ learning, the percentage of the Malaysian

respondents who score less than 400 (ie. low

benchmark) is still high (28%). Indonesia has also

shown some increase in TIMSS 2015 but the scores

are far below the international benchmark with 50%

of respondents in the low benchmark category.

Table 1: Malaysia and Indonesia Mathematics

Achievements based on TIMSS International Benchmark

Percentage 2011 (%) 2015 (%)

IND MY IND MY

Advanced

Benchmark

(>625)

0 2 0 3

High

Benchmark

(>550)

2 12 3 18

Intermediate

Benchmark

(>475)

15 36 20 45

Low

Benchmark

(>400)

43 65 50 72

*IND – Indonesia, MY – Malaysia

TIMSS results should not be used to reflect the

overall performance of students of the participating

countries since there may be other contributing

factors. Malaysian researchers and policy makers

revealed possible reasons for the poor performance

which include the following:

i. Standards of examinations are different.

a. Require HOTS.

b. Questions are unpredictable.

ii. Students are not trained or well exposed to

answer TIMSS and PISA-like questions.

iii. Students had problems in understanding the

question context and language.

iv. Students are not serious in answering TIMSS

and PISA assessments because there are no

implications to their performance and their

future.

The benchmarking exercise in TIMSS and PISA

shows how Malaysian students fare with other

countries. This allows us to take immediate actions

to help improve students’ mathematics learning. The

new mathematics curriculum allows students to be

more engaged, allow teachers to assign project works

as required in STEM education thus providing

opportunities for students to work collaboratively,

develop their critical thinking, creative thinking,

problem solving skills, team work skill, and

communication skills.

4 INTEGRATING STEM

EDUCATION IN SCHOOL

CURRICULUM

The content and pedagogy of the new primary

school curriculum, KSSR as well as the new

secondary curriculum (Curriculum Standard for

Secondary School, KSSM) are well aligned to meet

the needs in enhancing STEM education:

i. Content is restructured and improved to

ensure students are provided with the

knowledge, skills and values that are

relevant to the current needs for the

challenges of the 21st century.

ii. Pedagogical approaches emphasises on in-

depth learning based on higher order

thinking skills (HOTS). Focus is given to

inquiry-based learning, problem solving,

contextual learning, collaborative learning,

project-based learning and Science,

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

(STEM) approach.

(Bahrum, Wahid & Ibrahim, 2017).

4.1 Core Competencies for STEM

Education

In solving real world STEM problems, several

core competencies apart from the content knowledge

must be acquired and enhanced. One of the

competencies required is reasoning ability.

Malaysians students did poorly in TIMSS items that

require reasoning (Lessani, 2015). In emphasizing

reasoning, students are encouraged to estimate,

predict and make intelligent guesses (conjectures) in

the process of seeking solution and need to be

provided opportunities to investigate their predictions

or guesses by using concrete material, calculators,

computers, mathematical representation etc. Logical

reasoning needs to be integrated in the teaching of

Challenges of STEM Education

mathematics so that students can recognize, construct

and evaluate predictions and mathematical

arguments.

The New Jersey Mathematics Curriculum

Framework (New Jersey Mathematics Coalition,

1996) provided an elaborate descriptive statement of

mathematical reasoning as ‘the critical skill that

enables a student to make use of all other

mathematical skills. With the development of

mathematical reasoning, students recognize that

mathematics makes sense and can be understood.

They learn how to evaluate situations, select problem-

solving strategies, draw logical conclusions, develop

and describe solutions, and recognize how those

solutions can be applied. Mathematical reasoners are

able to reflect on solutions to problems and determine

whether or not they make sense’. Definitely STEM

tasks would require students to apply their reasoning

abilities for them to solve the tasks.

The Malaysian new curriculum (Curriculum

Development Division, MOE Malaysia, 2011)

emphasises on several core competencies that are also

essential for STEM education. KSSR and KSSM

emphasize on the development of holistic individuals

who are critical, creative and innovative. The core of

the curriculum framework is supported by the

learning areas of mathematics, that are attitude and

value, skills and process. The mathematical

processes comprise of communication, reasoning,

connection, problem solving and representations in

mathematics. Communication skills include reading

and understanding problems, interpreting diagrams

and graphs, using correct and concise mathematical

terms in oral presentation and writing, and listening.

Focus on connection will enable students to link

conceptual to procedural knowledge and relate topics

within mathematics and other learning areas in

mathematics. By making connections, students are

able to see mathematics as an integrated whole rather

than just a jumble of unconnected ideas.

KSSR uses the following general descriptors to

indicate achievement based on performance standard:

Table 2: General descriptors of achievement

Performance

Level

Knowledge Performance

Indicator

1 Know basic mathematics

knowledge

2 Know and understand basic

mathematics knowledge

3 Know and understand basic

mathematics knowledge, able to

apply basic arithmetic operations,

able to apply knowledge on basic

conversion

4 Know and understand

mathematics knowledge, able to

apply calculation procedures in

solving routine daily problems

5 Able to apply mathematical

knowledge and skills in solving

routine daily problems using

various strategies

6 Able to apply mathematical

knowledge and skills in solving

non-routine problems using

various strategies creatively and

innovatively.

In teaching and in assessment, the emphasis on

HOTs is intensified. The focus is on non-routine

problems instead of routine ones. Non-routine

problems require analysis and reasoning, may be

solved in more than one way and may have many

solutions as illustrated in Figure 1 below. STEM

education focuses more on non-routine problems that

relates to daily life such as this. On the other hand,

routine problems are problems that can be solved

using methods that students are familiar which may

only require replicating previously learned algorithm.

It only requires use of known procedures.

Figure 1: Example of a Non-Routine Problem

Source: Geometry PoW Packet Broken Pottery May 30,

2011 • http://mathforum.org/pows/

ICRI 2018 - International Conference Recent Innovation

5 CONCLUSION

KSSR and KSSM are still in the infancy stage to

judge whether the content of the curriculum would

indeed produce students who are creative and

innovative problem solvers and will contribute to the

development of the country. It was also designed to

support STEM education. One of the initiatives that

was started in 2015 is a collaborative project with

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to

develop Blended Learning Open Source Science or

Math Studies (BLOSSOMS).

STEM education should be embedded within and

beyond the curriculum. The following are some

immediate and workable actions to help enhance

STEM education:

i. establish communities of practice (CoP),

that offer guide, support and teaching

materials for STEM teaching and learning

and how it can be implemented in specific

contexts and with different types of learners.

ii. develop learning resources such as modules

and videos.

iii. provide support for teachers by providing

mentors, guides and videos to help them

apply pedagogical approaches that

emphasise on in-depth learning based on

higher order thinking skills (HOTS) such

inquiry-based learning, problem solving,

contextual learning, collaborative learning,

project-based learning and Science,

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

(STEM) approach.

iv. provide learning experiences that include

interdisciplinary approaches to solving real

world lessons that integrates STEM.

v. collaborate with higher education

institutions, government agencies, research

institutes, and industries to support STEM

education in schools.

Literature had also highlighted on the need to

create flexible learning spaces, well equipped science

laboratories and design laboratories with advanced

computer applications. However, STEM education

in budget-constrained learning environments can still

be conducted effectively if it is reinforced with the

right resources and support. We need to stay tight

with the philosophy of introducing STEM to students.

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