STEM through inquiry projects for students: A teacher's perspective

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has been described by the Australian Government as being critically important (Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 2019). However, even though STEM education itself is not new (Sanders, 2009), defining STEM education is not straightforward. Interpretations of STEM include defining it as just science (Timms et al., 2018), as four independent disciplines, or as integrative STEM (integrating two or more of the disciplines) (Paige, et al., 2019). Studies such as Thibaut et al. (2018) highlight that the benefits of an integrative approach to STEM include increased interest in the STEM disciplines and increased motivation to learn STEM. Similarly, an inquiry approach to STEM has also been shown to have benefits including increased motivation and interest as well as students demonstrating more creativity and risk taking (Morrison, et al., 2015).