1st Edition
Ways of Thinking in STEM-based Problem Solving Teaching and Learning in a New Era
Taking a future-oriented approach, this book addresses students’ ways of thinking in STEM-based problem solving. It provides a rich set of chapters that explore how we can advance important thinking skills in STEM education for K-12 students.
STEM education is essential to understanding and solving many of the world’s major challenges. However, the kind of interdisciplinary modes of thinking required to tackle such unforeseen problems is lacking in most STEM education delivery. The book examines the various modes of thinking that can be applied to effective STEM-based problem solving across K-12 education. The modes include design and design-based thinking, systems thinking and modelling, critical thinking, innovative and adaptive thinking, intuition in problem solving, and computational and algorithmic thinking. Across the chapters, the authors’ interdisciplinary perspectives give further depth to understanding how students learn and apply their thinking to solve STEM-based problems. The book also provides guidance on how to assess ways of thinking in STEM education, to ensure educators can recognize students’ progress and development.
Bringing together a team of international experts, this book is essential reading for pre-service teachers, teacher educators and researchers in STEM education.
Chapter 1. STEM-based Problem Solving and Thinking in a New Era
Lyn D. English
Chapter 2. STEM in a changing world: What is valuable and valued
Karen Skilling and Wonyong Park
Chapter 3. Global creative disruption and implications for STEM-based problem solving and learning
Janet Hanson and Bill Lucas
Chapter 4. STEM ways of thinking: Elementary grade learners’ possibility and adaptive thinking in STEM-rich contexts
Amber Simpson, David Slavit and Kristin Lesseig
Chapter 5. The critical role of intuition in problem solving
Elif Eda Miskioğlu, Kaela Martin, and Adam Carberry
Chapter 6. Nexus for STEM Problem Solving and Transfer Research: Instruction First or Productive Failure First?
Michael Jacobson, John Vulic, and James A. Levin
Chapter 7. Students’ Systems Modeling: A Classroom of the Future
Steven Roderick, Daniel Damelin, and Lynn Stephens
Chapter 8. Systems thinking in the early grades
Systems Thinking Association in Türkiye
Chapter 9. Systems Thinking Journeys of Preschool Teachers: A Leverage Point for Problem Solving
Ezgi Şenyurt-Öztürk and Şebnem Feriver
Chapter 10. Perspectives on Design Thinking within STEM
Greg J. Strimel
Chapter 11. Design-based thinking in problem solving in technology and across the STEM disciplines
Jonas Hallström and Konrad J. Schönborn
Chapter 12. Engineering Design in STEM-based Problem Solving
Margret A. Hjalmarson and Johnna Bolyard
Chapter 13. Engineering design reasoning for conscientious decision-making
Senay Purzer
Chapter 14. Critical thinking in STEM education
Eva Jablonka and Richard Barwell
Chapter 15. Critical Thinking in Mathematics and Mathematical Modelling Related to STEM
Anita Schuchardt and Gillian Roehrig
Chapter 16. Computer programming puzzles, mathematics education, and the culture of learning
George Gadanidis, Janette M. Hughes, Immaculate Namukasa and Ricardo Scucuglia
Chapter 17. Computational Problem Solving in STEM education
Timothy Lehman
Chapter 18. Challenges in assessing students’ STEM-based problem solving
Zeyu Han, Winnie Wing Mui So, and Zhi Hong Wan
Chapter 19. Ways of thinking and STEM-based problem solving: Towards the future
Michael K. Daugherty and Vinson Carter
Biography
Lyn D. English is Professor of mathematics/STEM education at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Her areas of research include mathematics/STEM education, ways of thinking in integrated STEM-based problem solving, mathematical modelling, engineering education, and reasoning with probability and statistics. She is a Fellow of The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and the founding editor (1997) of the international journal, Mathematical Thinking and Learning (Taylor & Francis).
Timothy Lehmann is Senior Lecturer in secondary mathematics education at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. His areas of research are the teaching and learning of secondary mathematics topics including measurement, calculus, discrete mathematics, and the development of computational thinking in mathematics and STEM education.
