STEM LEARNING CONTENTS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NATIONAL CURRICULUM Novi Yanthi(a*), Burhanudin Milama(b), Margaretha Sri Yuliariatiningsih (a)
(a) S1 PGSD UPI Kampus Cibiru, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Raya Cibiru km 15, Bandung, 40393, Indonesia, novi.yanthi[at]upi.edu; (b) Fakultas Tarbiyah, Universitas Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, Jl. Jakarta, Indonesia (b)
Abstract
STEM education in Indonesia should have its own place in the development of the required 21st century skills of students of all education levels. Yet, its implementation particularly in elementary level is still weakly established. Most teachers are not familiar with the term STEM nor how it is implemented in classroom practice. Teachers generally view STEM learning in a limited scope that it is strongly related with sophisticated engineering applications. Therefore, this study aimed at identify curriculum contents which intercept with STEM subjects and teachers understanding of the intersection of STEM and elementary curriculum contents. This study deploys qualitative method by the use of checklist form to analyse curriculum contents which joint STEM subjects both in the Standar Isi and thematic text books of grades K4-K6. Unstructured interview protocol is used to gather data about teachers knowledge of STEM contents in the curriculum. In order to get a validated data, member check is done to ensure teachers responses. Results indicate that national curriculum content strongly supports the enhancement of STEM education in elementary level. Yet, teachers require further professional development to improve their competences in designing and implementing STEM learning according to national curriculum standards in classroom level.
Keywords: STEM learning content, elementary school, national curriculum
