Assessing Teachers’ Practices in Stem/Steam Education at the Secondary School Level in Pakistan

Twenty First Century Skills (21st CS) are considered to be a pathway of STEM/STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Education, yet there is limited evidence at a large scale of the implementation of STEM/STEAM pedagogy in secondary schools of Pakistan. The research sought to understand the self-reported classroom practices of secondary school teachers across nine domains of pedagogical and infrastructural practices associated with STEM/STEAM learning, and to examine the differences in practices by teachers from different localities and males and females. The design of the study was descriptive, cross-sectional survey. The respondents comprised 1,099 STEM/STEAM engaged secondary teachers from all seven administrative provinces/territories of Pakistan who filled an 8-item Yes/No Resource Availability index along with a structured 51 item questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale, which measured 8 practice constructs: Project- and Problem-Based Learning, Hands-On and Model-Making Practices, Inquiry-Based Learning, Use of Digital Tools and Technology, Arts Integration, Collaborative Learning, Problem-Solving and Design Thinking, and STEM/STEAM Competitions and Achievement Exposure. The instrument was expert validated and showed great internal consistency (α overall was .905). Results: Teachers indicated that they were implementing Project/Problem Based Learning (PBL) at a high level (M = 3.57), Competitions and Achievement Exposure at a high level (M = 3.48), and Arts Integration at a moderate level (M = 3.42), while they were implementing Collaborative Learning at a moderate level (M = 3.39), Problem Solving and Design Thinking at a moderate level (M = 3.34), and Inquiry Based Learning at a moderate level (M = 3.32), and Hands On/Model Making at a comparatively low level (M = 3.05). In general, 49.5% of cases, material and infrastructural resources were available. There was no significant difference between the availability of resources available to teachers by gender, but there was a significant difference by urban and rural (χ² = 22.449, p < .001), with teachers from urban schools saying they had less available in their classroom than teachers from rural schools, possibly because of the overcrowding of urban schools, rather than the fact that rural school resources are superior. Conclusion: relatively high levels of engagement with teacher-directed/low material cost practices and practices depending on sustained student autonomy or on physical materials or infrastructure or on the digital are relatively limited, with the exception of practices that rely on physical materials and infrastructure. Implications: The results justify investing more in infrastructure and professional development in hands-on, inquiry, and technologically focused practice and in the reallocation of resources based on per-capita classroom load instead of on an urban/rural administrative classification.