Heliyon (Oct 2023)
Challenges to the implementation of STEM education in the Bono East Region of Ghana
Abstract
STEM education interrelates science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, ensuring that all interrelated contents are taught in coherence instead of in isolation. This promotes collaboration, critical thinking, and active engagement among students. The study ascertained the factors that compromise the implementation of STEM practices in the Bono East Region of Ghana to gain a moderately broad and deep understanding, allowing for a critical analysis of outcomes. It adopted a descriptive survey design to explore information concerning STEM education as it existed from May to October 2022. The study was carried out in Public Senior High and Vocational-Technical Schools in the Bono East Region of Ghana. The schools were split into STEM-related schools and non-STEM-related schools using a stratified sampling technique. Ten STEM-related schools were chosen using a purposive sampling method. 271 instructors from the departments of Science, Mathematics, and Information Communication Technology made up the study's population. A survey using a well-structured closed-ended questionnaire was administered online and the response obtained was transformed into frequencies and percentages in tabular forms using Microsoft Excel version 2016 (Microsoft, USA). Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 (IBM, USA) was used to perform a chi-square test to determine differences between responses obtained at the test significance of 5%. The study revealed that the general implementation of STEM practices throughout the studied Senior High Schools was below the mark. Inadequate STEM teaching-learning materials, limited certified STEM teachers, lack of STEM-dedicated infrastructure, inadequate professional development opportunities, absence of STEM documented standards and curriculum, limited access to technology, and limited time for teaching STEM-related subjects were some of the major factors contributing to the unsuccessful implementation of STEM practices in studied Public Senior High and Vocational-Technical Schools. Be that as it may, the study, therefore, recommended some measures including comprehensive STEM policies, adoptions of systematic STEM framework, and rigorous curriculum overhaul to be considered by the various stakeholders of education to realize the aspirations of inclusive STEM education.
