STEM education reform plays a critical role in modern education for the country to keep abreast of being competitive in global economy For a long time, STEM disciplines have been in silos, rendering the students unable to connect learned knowledge with real life problems. The emergence of integrated STEM education in some institutions suggests that, this approach makes students better problem solvers and logical thinkers. This paper provided an overview of what teaching strategies dominate in the implementation of integrated STEM education. The research methodology was based on a review of relevant literature search strategy through ERIC, online databases and journals such as Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, Taylor and Francis Online, SpringerLink, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, JSTOR and Journal of STEM Education. The keywords used in the search included integration strategies, science and technology, teaching and learning STEM, STEM in primary school, STEM in secondary school and STEM in higher education. The results of this meta-analysis revealed that, a project-based learning approach is the dominant strategy in STEM education implementation as this method improves the students’ skills and their capability to compete with others in the highly knowledge-based society. Findings from this review will lead educators who are new to STEM education to investigate further on how project-based learning could be effectively implemented in their teaching.

Function of several variables is one of the most important concepts in mathematics and its applications. The lack of its understanding will cause certain obstacles in the learning of next concepts or even subjects. The researchers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) tend to support students to overcome their deficiencies in the learning of two-variable functions by promoting mathematical thinking. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how this method can help students in the learning of two-variable functions when they encounter non-routine problems in face-to-face Engineering Mathematics (Multivariable Calculus) course through this method. The data collection for this study was collected from a Multivariable Calculus class at UTM during semester II 2009-2010. Data collection for the study was carried out through written assessments and structured questionnaires. The data analysis reveals that students still display difficulties in their learning. Specifically, students’ common difficulties are: students’ met-before (previous experience), selecting appropriate representation of the three worlds of mathematical thinking, the transition from one world to another world of mathematical thinking, lack of understanding two different embodiments, and lack of understanding two different symbolic for a concept. The findings reveal that the sketching the graph of two-variable functions in 3-dimensions is the greatest difficulty for majority of students in this method. Additionally, the quite entrenching of students in their learning behaviour and styles is the most important reason for the lack of using prompts and questions as guides by students and then no enough effectively of this method

Earlier studies revealed that students encountered difficulties in understanding the concept of measures of central tendency. However, there is negligible empirical support concerning this problem in Malaysian context. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify misconceptions held by tenth grade students from Malaysian secondary schools regarding measures of central tendency. The instrument used was a statistical reasoning test. It was administered to 412 tenth grade students from nine different schools. Overall, the results demonstrated that tenth grade students held considerable misconceptions about measures of central tendency. Interestingly, some misconceptions were new which had not been identified in previous research. This study provides implications for instructors and researchers planning learning goals as well as designing instructional activities and assessments for future studies.

The development of any country in the world depends largely on its escalating focus on integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (iSTEM). Over the years in Nigeria, there are calls for action to integrate STEM disciplines as the pre-service teachers are only receiving training in the separate field of STEM. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the iSTEM course as a new pedagogy for training the pre-service mathematics teachers’ readiness in teaching the iSTEM disciplines in Sokoto State, Nigeria. The study utilised one group quasi-experimental research design. Purposive sampling was used in choosing all the 54 pre-service mathematics teachers in their 300-level undergoing a teacher training programme in Sokoto State University, Nigeria. The participants underwent a 5-week iSTEM course organised by the researchers that focused on the five levels of integration that include: Single, Combine, Multiple, Engineering Projects, and Fully Integrated STEM disciplines. Data was collected through the iSTEM pre- and post-survey Questionnaire (iSTEM-SQ) and analysed using descriptive statistics. The bar graph and non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test were also used in describing the effectiveness of the pre- and post-survey test. The findings indicated that the iSTEM course was effective in preparing and empowering the pre-service mathematics teachers’ pedagogical strategy for teaching integrated STEM in their future classroom instruction. The paper also recommends for incorporation of the iSTEM approach in the curriculum of pre-service mathematics teachers at the various institutions of learning in Nigeria.

Learning 2-Dimensional and 3-Dimensional Geometry with Geogebra: Which Would Students Do Better?

Problem posing is a new and inventive pedagogical approach in mathematics education. It has long been under the shadow of problem solving, until recently, when researchers started to realize its potentials, resulting in a fast-growing recognition of the need to incorporate it into Mathematics classroom learning. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify students’ problem posing ability in free, semi-structured and structured problem posing situations. In addition, this study would also determine their view about problem posing. The sample consisted of twenty eight Form 2 secondary school students. Two instruments were used: The Mathematical Problem Posing Task and The Problem Posing Questionnaire. The results revealed that the students were capable of posing 63 solvable mathematical problems, out of which, 55 (87%) in the low level of complexity and 8 (13%) in the moderate level of complexity, within the problem posing tasks given. The result also revealed that, free problem posing situations are more demanding task compared to the semi-structured and structured problem posing situations. Besides, the findings also found that, students have positive views about problem posing. In conclusion, problem posing is a potential pedagogical approach that can be implemented realistically in Mathematics classrooms.