Teachers’ Perspectives on the Benefits and Role of Stem Education in the Solution of Complex Global Challenges

Abstract

The globe on which we live faces a lot of complex challenges. The world of the 21^st century needs some particular skills based on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in order to solve complex global challenges. This research aimed to assess teachers’ perspectives on the benefits and role of STEM education in the solution of complex global challenges. This research was descriptive. All the government secondary school teachers of Faisalabad Division of Pakistan were the population, and a sample of 100 teachers was selected from them through a convenience sampling method. A Likert-based, closed-ended questionnaire with 13 statements was developed for data collection. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by obtaining the experts’ opinions, and reliability was ensured through pilot testing. The data were collected by the researchers, and the same were analyzed in SPSS, where descriptive as well as inferential statistics were applied. Results revealed that the majority of the government secondary school teachers had a higher level of agreement with the benefits of STEM education, such as that it increases the critical thinking skills of the students, develops innovation and curiosity in students, improves cognitive skills, develops problem solving skills, and makes them responsible citizens. Results found that teachers also had a higher level of agreement towards the role of STEM education in the solution of global complex challenges, such as developing students’ understanding of real world problems, applying STEM knowledge to tackle global challenges, enabling students to eliminate pollution around the planet, equipping students to discover sources of renewable energy and water, enabling students to propose novel agricultural and food production techniques, enabling students to deal with social and medical problems at the national and international level, and preparing students to find solutions to problems on a global scale. The study recommends that a STEM educational approach be implemented from primary classes to higher education in order to equip students with STEM skills to tackle the complex global challenges.