Page 29 - Volk, Marina, Štemberger, Tina, Sila, Anita, Kovač, Nives. Ur. 2021. Medpredmetno povezovanje: pot do uresničevanja vzgojno-izobraževalnih ciljev. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem
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Changing the Educational Paradigm by Applying STEM Competencies
A New Educational Paradigm
China was the undisputed leader in 2018 at PISA (Program for International
Student Assessment) in international student achievement measurement.
The fifth ranked is Estonia, which has managed to transform itself into a high
‘per capita’ income country, since its independence in 1991, through innova-
tive thinking and investment in education. Human knowledge is doubling,
some of occupations disappear and some brand new occupations appear.
The occupational demands change and become more complex, and it be-
comes a priority to educate students to cope more successfully with the
changes they will face throughout his work and life span. STEM has been the
focus of the education system in Estonia for many years (OECD 2015; 2019), to-
gether with language competences. The PISA survey 2018 Bosnia and Herze-
govina participated in showed that BiH student’s achievements are under
the international average in all domains of learning math and science. These
results have prompted the BiH education authorities to follow the model of
other countries and initiate reform of the education system by turning to a
new system of learning and teaching based on key skills. The change of the
educational paradigm requires the support of ministries, pedagogical insti-
tutes, teachers, schools, textbook publishers. It opens a different view of ed-
ucation in the broader social context.
There are multiple occurrences forms of new paradigm which essentially
manifest as a shift in the pedagogical focus. The most important change is
the way of seeing the world. The emphasis is shifted from the description
of phenomena to the chain of cause and effect which the particular phe-
nomenon is located in. Focus is transferred from learning about the subject
to the mastery of methods by which knowledge is acquired and used. The
focus is on learning outcomes, not content. The student becomes an active
subject of teaching, who does not receive the presented contents as pre-
pared or finished facts but critically thinks and understands the natural world.
The Role of Teachers in the STEM Area
The term STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic) means
teaching and learning in the natural sciences, technology, engineering and
math. The basic idea behind the STEM approach is to coordinate and, if pos-
sible, to integrate teaching by links based on practical use, instead of focus-
ing on separate disciplines. In addition, identifying connections between the
listed subjects and their application to specific situations encountered by
students, greatly affects the motivation (Kiemer et al. 2015; Rosenzweig and
Wigfield 2016), and consequently the student’s achievement.
The implemented programs are most commonly designed as out-of-school
27
A New Educational Paradigm
China was the undisputed leader in 2018 at PISA (Program for International
Student Assessment) in international student achievement measurement.
The fifth ranked is Estonia, which has managed to transform itself into a high
‘per capita’ income country, since its independence in 1991, through innova-
tive thinking and investment in education. Human knowledge is doubling,
some of occupations disappear and some brand new occupations appear.
The occupational demands change and become more complex, and it be-
comes a priority to educate students to cope more successfully with the
changes they will face throughout his work and life span. STEM has been the
focus of the education system in Estonia for many years (OECD 2015; 2019), to-
gether with language competences. The PISA survey 2018 Bosnia and Herze-
govina participated in showed that BiH student’s achievements are under
the international average in all domains of learning math and science. These
results have prompted the BiH education authorities to follow the model of
other countries and initiate reform of the education system by turning to a
new system of learning and teaching based on key skills. The change of the
educational paradigm requires the support of ministries, pedagogical insti-
tutes, teachers, schools, textbook publishers. It opens a different view of ed-
ucation in the broader social context.
There are multiple occurrences forms of new paradigm which essentially
manifest as a shift in the pedagogical focus. The most important change is
the way of seeing the world. The emphasis is shifted from the description
of phenomena to the chain of cause and effect which the particular phe-
nomenon is located in. Focus is transferred from learning about the subject
to the mastery of methods by which knowledge is acquired and used. The
focus is on learning outcomes, not content. The student becomes an active
subject of teaching, who does not receive the presented contents as pre-
pared or finished facts but critically thinks and understands the natural world.
The Role of Teachers in the STEM Area
The term STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic) means
teaching and learning in the natural sciences, technology, engineering and
math. The basic idea behind the STEM approach is to coordinate and, if pos-
sible, to integrate teaching by links based on practical use, instead of focus-
ing on separate disciplines. In addition, identifying connections between the
listed subjects and their application to specific situations encountered by
students, greatly affects the motivation (Kiemer et al. 2015; Rosenzweig and
Wigfield 2016), and consequently the student’s achievement.
The implemented programs are most commonly designed as out-of-school
27
