Professor Bybee is a distinguished American academic who has written many books on science and technology education and chaired many important national and international education committees.
He is also the academic who helped create the Primary Connections programme for the Australian Academy of Science.
STEM Literacy
Professor Bybee defines STEM Literacy as an individual’s:
- knowledge, attitudes, and skills to identify questions and problems in life situations, explain the natural and designed world, and draw evidence-based conclusions about STEM-related issues;
- understanding of the characteristic features of STEM disciplines as forms of human knowledge, inquiry, and design;
- awareness of how STEM disciplines shape our material, intellectual, and cultural environments; and
- willingness to engage in STEM-related issues and with the ideas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as a constructive, concerned, and reflective citizen.
He regards a background on these issues as just as important for an informed public as having a basic understanding of history or politics.
Rodger's teachings
Author
Professor Bybee has written two books particularly relevant to STEM education - The Case for STEM Education: Challenges and Opportunities and STEM Education Now More Than Ever.
Whilst some chapters are only relevant in the context of STEM education in American, both books offer a rich introduction to both the importance of STEM and how to integrate it into the classroom.
Both books can be downloaded as eBooks from the National Science Teachers Store for around AUD 35
Mentor
Watch Rodger answering questions from high school students about Science education and PISA
