2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

STEM co-curricular and extracurricular learning activities serve as critical platforms to develop students’ interest towards engineering careers and hands-on skills in high schools. Teachers can no longer be merely knowledge disseminators but to support students’ learning by effective curriculum design, organization, and implementation. They are expected to nurture students' curiosity, develop their innovative abilities, and provide practical opportunities (Margot et al., 2019).
However, Herro and Quigley pointed out that approximately 60% of STEM teachers lack comprehensive preparations in teaching methods according to their research (Herro et al., 2017). Also, individual differences among students can increase the difficulty in organizing and implementing STEM learning activities. Meanwhile, assessment methods can be insufficient to accurately reflect students' comprehensive abilities, especially for STEM learning activities. In addition, nearly half of STEM teachers report a lack of necessary teaching resources (Li et al., 2020). Therefore, there is a strong need and urgency to enhance support for STEM teachers in organizing and implementing STEM learning activities.
From the perspective of multiple stakeholders, teachers need to collaborate with schools, government, families, and industry to achieve the integrative design of STEM curriculum and effective implementation. However, what are the exact roles and functions are required of STEM teachers? Among these roles and functions, which ones are the most challenging and demand more support from other stakeholders? Addressing these questions will help improve the organization and implementation of STEM learning activities in high schools.
In this context, the ecological systems theory can be useful to explore the roles and functions of teachers in organizing and implementing the co-curricular and extracurricular learning activities in high schools (Erdogan et al., 2015). This framework emphasizes the interconnectedness among teachers, students, families, schools, and industry, considering the multiple roles and functions of teachers (Dong, 2018).
We conducted interviews with ten high school STEM teachers to collect data and investigate their roles and functions in STEM activities organization and implementation using the learning ecosystem framework. Thematic analyses were used for qualitative data analyses. Open-coding and axial coding were conducted to extract the categories and develop themes.
Preliminary findings suggested that most teachers experienced multiple challenges in organizing and implementing the curriculum and extracurricular STEM learning activities. Also, most teachers expressed a need for more professional development opportunities, organizational support, and resource assistance. In addition, teachers hoped to engage in mutual inspiration with STEM role models, more collaborations with colleagues, community educational leaders, and industry partners. Overall, this study aims to provide a more holistic understanding about STEM teachers in their organization and implementation of STEM learning activities and offer practical suggestions to improve the effectiveness of these learning activities.

References:
Dong, Z. (2018). How to Build a Successful STEM High School?—A Review of Types and Construction Frameworks of STEM High Schools in the United States. Institute of Curriculum and Teaching Research, East China Normal University, 28(07), 120-126.
Erdogan, N., & Stuessy, C. L. (2015). Modeling Successful STEM High Schools in the United States: An Ecology Framework. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 3(1), 77-92.
Furrer, C., Skinner, E., & Pitzer, J. (2014). The Influence of Teacher and Peer Relationships on Students’ Classroom Engagement and Everyday Motivational Resilience. Teachers College Record (1970), 116(13), 101-123.
Herro, D., & Quigley, C. (2017). Exploring teachers’ perceptions of STEAM teaching through professional development: Implications for teacher educators. Professional Development in Education, 43(3), 416-438.
Li, Y., Wang, K., Xiao, Y., Froyd, J. E., & Nite, S. B. (2020). Research and trends in STEM education: A systematic analysis of publicly funded projects. International Journal of STEM Education, 7, 17.
Margot, K. C., & Kettler, T. (2019). Teachers' perception of STEM integration and education: A systematic literature review. International Journal of STEM Education, 6(2), 1-15.