Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Based on an investigation of research literature on the role of mathematics within the context of STEM education and twenty-first century skills, this explorative study presents and analyses 19 pre-service teachers’ lesson proposals for innovative STEM activities in secondary mathematics classrooms. Drawing on a categorisation of twenty-first century skills and key concepts from Realistic Mathematics Education and Basil Bernstein’s writings, the analysis indicated a use of detailed instructions regarding what students should do but unspecified criteria for their expected knowledge productions. Rather than serving as a digital tool for problem solving, programming was used for the purpose of generalising students’ conceptual knowledge in mathematics. At the same time a focus on modelling and applications in the STEM activities tended to weaken the disciplinary character of mathematics. The learning of various twenty-first century skills was promoted to different extents. The study raises a discussion of affordances and constraints regarding students’ access to mathematical knowledge through different modes of integration of mathematics and other STEM subjects aiming to support the development of twenty-first century skills.
Bergsten et al. (Sat,) studied this question.