STEAMTEACH Austria: Towards a STEAM Professional Development Program

Abstract

The STEAMTEACH (STEAM Education for Teaching Professionalism) project works with teacher trainers to develop a program of Transcultural STEAM Professional Development for in- and pre-service teachers. Following a literature review, a semi-structured questionnaire then interviews approach was used to elicit current practice, challenges for teachers and recommendations from Austrian teacher trainers. These recommendations were then compared with and supported by STEAM academic literature. It was found that none of the institutions offered a STEAM approach and it does not appear in the curriculum. Indeed, this fact is the primary challenge to overcome. Recommendations were that teachers should work in multidisciplinary, supportive, collaborative groups and networks. Problem and project-based learning were identified as key learning methodologies. A mix of physical and on-line working synchronously and asynchronously was recommended for online professional development because teachers can participate irrespective of time and place. Educational technology can support collaboration, and also ‘plug and play’ technologies including game-based learning can be inserted into an overall STEAM approach. The affective factor was judged essential for students and teachers.