Making STEM Education Objectives Sustainable through a Tutoring Program

Francisco-Domingo Fernández-Martín, José-Luis Arco-Tirado, Francisco-Javier Carrillo-Rosúa, Mirian Hervás-Torres, Juan-Francisco Ruiz-Hidalgo and Carmen Romero-López
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Francisco-Domingo Fernández-Martín: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
José-Luis Arco-Tirado: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Francisco-Javier Carrillo-Rosúa: Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Mirian Hervás-Torres: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Juan-Francisco Ruiz-Hidalgo: Department of Didactics of Mathematics, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Carmen Romero-López: Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: The objective of this research was two-fold. First, to determine the impact of a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education program on school performance amongst primary education students. Second, to identify the potential benefits of this program on the key competences of university students in Primary Education Teacher Training. The primary education students’ sub-sample, after being matched on key covariates, was randomly assigned either to the experimental ( N = 25) or control group ( N = 25). The university students’ sub-sample consisted of 26 students self-selected from the Primary Education Teacher Training degree. The intervention consisted of 20 two-hour weekly sessions of highly structured after-school tutoring delivered by previously trained university students. Although statistical significance was not reached for the hypotheses tested, notably, the results showed between small and moderate effect sizes (i.e., magnitude and direction of the program impact) for primary education students on core STEM subjects (e.g., mathematics d = 0.29, natural science d = 0.26), and for university students on some key employability competencies (e.g., action orientation d = 0.27 or team orientation d = 0.54).

Keywords: science; technology; engineering and mathematics (STEM) education; tutoring; school performance; social sustainability; service learning; initial teacher training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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