Abstract:

This paper presents an experience embedded within a primary education pre-service teachers´course which has been framed regarding STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). All the disciplines that are part of the STEM education are crucial and seems to play important role in the development of twenty-first century skills such as adaptability, communication, social skills, problem solving, collaboration, creativity, self-efficacy and scientific thinking. One of the maim aims of the STEM education is to achieve an integrated approach of learning, offering opportunities to stablish good connections and meaningful relationships between such disciplines. STEM education model offers great challenges but also opportunities to implement and develop curricular standards linked to a meaningful scientific literacy. Regarding our role as teachers and researchers involved in initial teachers´ training programs of primary education, it should be considered essential that those programs should offer them orientation, opportunities and good practical examples to experience with contextualized tasks related to STEM approaches. These experiences could serve as references and offer inspiration to design, redesign or adapt their own teaching and learning STEM scenarios for their classrooms.

Pre-service teachers involved in a scientific training course for primary education carried-out an immersion task aimed at the design of a “windmill” scale model using everyday materials. In addition to hands-on integrated tasks they had to analyze the STEM scenario having in mind curricular aspects for a lesson plan design and establishing the appropriate connections with the primary curriculum oriented not only to scientific procedures but also to the corresponding analysis of pedagogical content knowledge. The main aim of this tasks was to show the high potential for scientific education and real connections with the primary education curriculum considering diverse STEM issues. Some preliminary results, from the analysis of teachers´ outcomes involved in the experience, preliminary conclusions and implications for teacher education programs are shown.

Keywords:

STEM education, pre-service teachers, primary education.