A Theoretical Model for the Design and Development of C-STEM Curriculum in China

In recent years, the international community has attached great importance to STEM education, aiming at cultivating students with innovative and comprehensive talents through STEM education. Because of the examination-oriented basic education system and the cultural influences in China, existing STEM curriculum developed in Western countries cannot be directly transplanted into the context in China. Based on reviews of relevant research in China and other countries, this paper proposes a theoretical model for the design and development of C-STEM curriculum. With the consideration of the local contexts in China, the curriculum development process of this theoretical model includes six steps: studying curriculum standards, selecting C-STEM curriculum theme, designing learning activities, optimizing curriculum design, preparing curriculum resources and materials, analyzing and improving curriculum. The model aims to provide reference for the development of C-STEM curriculum in China, also to promote the inheritance and development of Chinese traditional culture, in order to provide reference for future research.

I. Introduction

STEM education has gradually developed in China. Many schools and institutions have designed and enacted various STEM courses. However, there are still many problems in the localization and development of STEM courses in China. For example, researchers and practitioners do not have a clear understanding of STEM education; there lacks theoretical guidance to the design and development of STEM curriculum; STEM curricula are not designed and developed in a systematic way [1]; existing STEM curriculum only showed some superficial features of the integration of different learning models, and ignored the integration of interdisciplinary knowledge, falling into a mechanical and simple assembling of learning models, and became "pseudo-integrated" curriculum [2]; many STEM curriculum has failed to promote students' deep learning [3]. One possible reason that causes these problems is that China’s basic education has long been confined in the "examination-oriented" trap and lacks the experience of integrating engineering and technology education in schooling [4]. From practical perspective, these issues originate from lack of understanding on how to develop STEM curriculum. Therefore, it is urgent to study the design and development of STEM curriculum.