STEM teachers networking in Thailand: Computational Thinking in STEM Education (online first)

STEM teachers networking in Thailand

Abstract

was launched at the event of Girls in ICT Day 2023. The purpose of this event was to encourage and enhance the confidence in digital literacy in girls and young women. A qualitative and descriptive study of 120 randomized teachers participating in the forum was conducted from May 2nd, 2023, to May 3rd, 2023. The primary outcome of this study was to evaluate the comprehension of Computational Thinking in STEM, identify the feasibility of applying STEM education, and perception in STEM careers. After the forum, the secondary outcome was to evaluate the improvement of Computational Thinking skills in STEM education. All participants were required to answer the questionnaire by using an electronic form with an anonymous user. 81 participants answering the questionnaire, mean age of 37.7 years, were at the end of the study. There were 22 (27.2%) and 59 (72.8%) in male and female groups. The teaching experience differed in male and female teacher groups for 2 years (median 8.0 IQR 3.0 to 15.0 in the male teacher group and median 10.0 IQR 5.0 to 20.0 in the female teacher group). 72 (88.9%) of the participants correctly described STEM education. The feasibility of applying STEM education in class is 60.5%, 30.9%, and 8.6% in science, engineering, and mathematics, consecutively. The male teacher group was prone to apply engineering in class at a higher proportion than the female teacher group. No significant difference existed between groups' perceptions of success opportunities in STEM careers. Both male and female teacher groups unidirectionally improved their confidence levels; there were 32 (39.5%) and 44 (54.3%) in less and medium confidence groups before the forum. In the end, there were 20 (27.6%) and 55 (67.9%) consecutively in the more and most confident groups. Our study provided crucial data about STEM education in Thailand. We conducted the study by including male teachers, as a new cohort in the forum to encourage equity between gender and to exchange wide-opened experiences.