The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for

Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

Mariana M. Kovtoniuk

1 a

, Olena M. Soia

1 b

, Oksana St. Turzhanska

1 c

, Olena P. Kosovets

1 d

and

Ivanna M. Leonova

1 e

Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, 32 Ostrozhskogo Str., Vinnytsia, 21100, Ukraine

Keywords:

Natural Sciences and Mathematics Education, STEM Education, STEM Center, Education of Pedagogical

Workers.

Abstract:

The development of education in the ﬁeld of STEM as an innovative direction of science and mathematics

education in Ukraine is carried out through the effective use of STEM methods as tools for learning, career

guidance of pupils/student youth, training, retraining or advanced training of scientiﬁc and pedagogical work-

ers. The article analyzes trends in the development of education in the ﬁeld of STEM as one of the key ﬁelds

of research worldwide from the point of view of geospatial focus, main disciplinary areas, methodological

and theoretical assumptions in the formation of research and STEM education practices. The regulatory and

legal ﬁeld of the implementation of the state program of the STEM ﬁeld in Ukraine has been studied. The

article focuses on effective pedagogical strategies of STEM education from the standpoint of creating a STEM

center as a perspective educational resource for undergraduate science and mathematics training at the Vin-

nytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University. The key performance indicators of the STEM

center “Educational and Scientiﬁc Training Center for Computer Science and Computer Mathematics” have

been determined. The popularization of STEM education among young people, teachers of general secondary

education institutions and teachers of higher education institutions thanks to holding meetings in the direc-

tion of STEM education with leading specialists of Delphi Software, an expert of Panasonic is described.

The experience of the functioning of the STEM center based on the Department of Mathematics and Com-

puter Science is highlighted. Innovative forms of implementing STEM education to attract young people to

educational, practical and scientiﬁc research activities are considered. The effectiveness of the work of the

“Educational and Scientiﬁc Training Center for Computer Science and Computer Mathematics” is evidenced

by the achievements of university students in various Olympiads, competitions, and presentations at confer-

ences. Pedagogical research on the perception by respondents of the functions performed by the STEM center

was analyzed using factor analysis. Factor analysis was performed using principal component analysis and

varimax rotation (Varimax Normalized). The optimal number of factors and their statistical signiﬁcance were

checked according to the Kaiser criterion.

1 INTRODUCTION

Ukraine, integrating into the European and world edu-

cational space, strives to reform the modern education

system for the versatile training of highly competent

education seekers who are able to demonstrate rele-

vant learning results of theoretical and applied con-

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7444-1234

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0937-299X

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2636-354X

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8577-3042

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0319-1370

tent. The state policy vector is aimed at signiﬁcantly

updating the content, methods and technologies of

teaching pupils and students. Scientists, methodolo-

gists, educators and other interested persons are active

participants in the state-building process in the ﬁeld

of modernization of the national education system.

Therefore, relying on the experience of such countries

as Australia, Great Britain, Israel, China, Korea, Sin-

gapore, the USA and others, Ukraine joins the world

practice of introducing education in the ﬁeld of STEM

as an innovative direction of the development of sci-

ence and mathematics education.

658

Kovtoniuk, M., Soia, O., Turzhanska, O., Kosovets, O. and Leonova, I.

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training.

DOI: 10.5220/0012066800003431

In Proceedings of the 2nd Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology (AET 2021), pages 658-674

ISBN: 978-989-758-662-0

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Note that the acronym STEM is used to denote a

popular direction in education, which includes natural

sciences (Science), technology (Technology), techni-

cal creativity (Engineering) and mathematics (Math-

ematics) (IMZO, 2018a). Therefore, STEM educa-

tion is the basis for training qualiﬁed professionals

in ﬁelds related to the latest technologies and high-

tech industries in conjunction with the natural sci-

ences. In general secondary education, the process of

STEM formation is due to the deepening of interdis-

ciplinary links and the implementation of integrated

STEM projects, and in higher education institutions –

through the development and updating of curricula

with strengthening of the science component and the

use of innovative technologies.

Developed countries have been implementing

government programs in the ﬁeld of STEM education

for many years. In Ukraine, the Institute for Mod-

ernization of Educational Content has established a

department of STEM education in which the follow-

ing sectors (IMZO, 2018b) operate: innovative forms

and methods of teachers, scientiﬁc and methodolog-

ical support of STEM education, research of educa-

tional processes. Specialists of the department deal

with practical issues of analysis of the process of

development and dynamics of development, identiﬁ-

cation of problems and forecasting of further trends

in the implementation of STEM education; provid-

ing scientiﬁc and methodological support for experi-

mental innovation activities, providing practical assis-

tance to educational institutions implementing STEM

majors; carrying out various activities to train and im-

prove the skills of teachers in educational activities

in the ﬁeld of STEM education, providing them with

professional methodological assistance in the organi-

zation of STEM training; coordinating the activities

of working groups of scientists, educators and spe-

cialists in STEM education and establishing commu-

nication links with the structures of the education sec-

tor, stakeholders and other institutions in the regions;

initiation, attraction of resources and funds, coordi-

nation, organization of educational projects, publica-

tions, presentations during educational events of var-

ious levels aimed at promoting STEM learning and

career guidance among students, dissemination of ex-

perience and achievements of STEM education and

other important tasks, absent which a systematic ap-

proach to the implementation of STEM education is

difﬁcult to imagine.

The legal ﬁeld for the development of STEM

direction in domestic education includes Orders of

the Ministry of Education and Science of February

29, 2016 № 188 “On the establishment of a work-

ing group on the implementation of STEM education

in Ukraine” (Ministry of Education and Science of

Ukraine, 2016), of May 17, 2017 № 708 “On research

and experimental work at the national level on the

topic: “Scientiﬁc and methodological principles of

creation and operation of the All-Ukrainian scientiﬁc

and methodological virtual STEM center” for 2017-

2021” (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine,

2021) and from April 29 2020 № 574 “On approval of

the Standard list of teaching aids and equipment for

classrooms and STEM laboratories” (Ministry of Ed-

ucation and Science of Ukraine, 2020), Order of the

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of August 5, 2020

№ 960-r “On approval of the Concept of development

of natural and mathematical education (STEM educa-

tion)” (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, 2020) (here-

inafter – the Concepts), the implementation of which

is scheduled for 2027, and a number of orders and let-

ters of the Institute for Modernization of Educational

Content, other ofﬁcial documents and guidelines, col-

legial decisions and responses measures regulating

the provision of educational services in Ukraine.

In particular, the main goal of the Concept is

“to promote the development of natural sciences and

mathematics education (STEM education) as a ba-

sis for competitiveness and economic growth of our

country, the formation of new competencies of citi-

zens, training new generations capable of learning and

developing and using new technologies”. The doc-

ument also outlines the problems, ways and means

of solving them, the timing of the Concept, the fore-

cast of the impact on key interests of stakehold-

ers, expected results, the amount of ﬁnancial, lo-

gistical, human resources, etc. Accordingly, the

following are deﬁned: the purpose of natural sci-

ences and mathematics education (STEM education)

and current competencies in the labor market, which

should be formed through the development of appro-

priate teaching methods and training programs; prin-

ciples, main tasks and priority directions of its de-

velopment at the levels – primary (preschool, out-of-

school, primary education), basic (basic secondary,

out-of-school education), proﬁle (proﬁle secondary,

out-of-school, professional (vocational) education),

higher / professional (Higher Education). “Natural

sciences and mathematics education (STEM educa-

tion) in Ukraine can be implemented through all types

of education, namely: formal, non-formal, informal

(on online platforms, in STEM centers / laboratories

(including virtual), by conducting tours, quests, tour-

naments, competitions, Olympiads, festivals, work-

shops, events, during which specialists in the ﬁeld

of software development work on solving a problem,

creating new computer programs)” (Cabinet of Min-

isters of Ukraine, 2020).

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

659

Thus, an integral component of science and math-

ematics education (STEM education) is the creation

of a network of modern STEM centers as promis-

ing educational resources (including virtual ones),

the activities of which should be aimed at: organiz-

ing science-oriented project and research activities of

education seekers with the use of high-tech teach-

ing aids, innovative education models, their develop-

ment and approval; popularization of the results of in-

ventive, science-oriented activities and development

of pupils/students creativity, critical thinking skills;

professional improvement and growth of scientiﬁc-

pedagogical and pedagogical workers, deepening of

their professional training in a way acceptable to

them, including using distance learning technologies.

Because STEM centers can be equipped with

“general secondary education institutions, as well as

vocational (technical) and professional higher educa-

tion institutions that provide complete general sec-

ondary education, as well as higher education institu-

tions that train teachers” (Ministry of Education and

Science of Ukraine, 2020). Therefore, in the frame-

work of the Concept we consider it expedient to create

a STEM center as an educational resource for training

in the context of the development of natural and math-

ematical education (STEM education) on the basis of

Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical

University.

The goal is to determine the key functions and

effectiveness of the STEM center on the basis of

Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical

University.

Main tasks:

• to carry out an analysis of trends in the develop-

ment of education in the ﬁeld of STEM based on

the practical experience of scientists from differ-

ent countries;

• to investigate the regulatory and legal ﬁeld of im-

plementation of the state program of the STEM

ﬁeld in Ukraine;

• to popularize STEM education among young peo-

ple, teachers of general secondary education in-

stitutions and teachers of higher educational insti-

tutions thanks to the experience of the operation

of the STEM center “Educational and Scientiﬁc

Training Center for Computer Science and Com-

puter Mathematics” on the basis of the Depart-

ment of Mathematics and Computer Science of

the Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Ped-

agogical University;

• to determine the purpose of the operation of the

STEM center for junior year students and pupils,

teachers of general secondary education institu-

tions, to determine the key indicators that af-

fect the development of education in the ﬁeld of

STEM as an innovative direction of the devel-

opment of science and mathematics education in

Ukraine;

• conducting events in the direction of STEM edu-

cation to attract scientiﬁc and pedagogical work-

ers to the use of new technologies, as well as their

training, retraining or advanced training for the ef-

fective use of STEM methods as tools for training

and career guidance of pupils/students;

• to verify the pedagogical research on the percep-

tion by respondents of the functions that will be

performed by the STEM center, based on the re-

sults of the scientiﬁc experiment by means of fac-

tor analysis;

• to describe the prospects of further research of the

STEM center “Educational and Scientiﬁc Train-

ing Center for Computer Science and Computer

Mathematics” on the basis of the Department of

Mathematics and Computer Science of Vinnytsia

Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical Uni-

versity.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The analysis of trends in the development of STEM

education based on practical experience shows that

STEM education is one of the key areas of research

worldwide. A critical review of the transdisciplinary

point of view on geospatial focus, main disciplinary

areas, methodological and theoretical assumptions in

the formation of research and practice of STEM ed-

ucation is presented in the article (Takeuchi et al.,

2020). The authors reviewed 154 peer-reviewed ar-

ticles published between January 2007 and March

2018 and came to the conclusion of “the need for

aesthetic expansion and diversiﬁcation of STEM edu-

cation research by challenging the disciplinary hege-

monies and calls for reorienting the focus away from

human capital discourse”.

In the world educational practice there is a seri-

ous problem of inconsistency of indicators for STEM

programs in higher education in different countries

of the world. Each country now develops its own

STEM indicators without establishing comparable

criteria between countries for the selection of pro-

grams that are considered STEMs, which complicates

the correct comparison between countries. Maldon-

ado et al. (Maldonado et al., 2020) propose a criterion

for selecting STEM programs to create internationally

comparable data through a conceptual and contextual

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

660

socio-historical review of the STEM movement.

There is considerable interest in STEM education

and major projects in the development of STEM cur-

ricula around the world. Therefore, efforts should

be made to increase the number of STEM teachers

through the proper and effective professional devel-

opment of teachers. Jong et al. (Jong et al., 2021)

propose to enable researchers and practitioners in

the ﬁeld of STEM education to implement a scien-

tiﬁc platform to reﬂect on the problems and obstacles

faced by STEM teachers, as well as to share new the-

oretical and practical knowledge gained from empir-

ical research on program design, implementation and

evaluation, professional development to develop the

potential of teachers in STEM education.

Exploring the mentoring model for teacher edu-

cation, Yabas¸ and Boyaci (Yabas¸ and Boyaci, 2022)

considered the STEM program for young researchers

and practitioners, which aimed to integrate STEM in-

tegrated learning knowledge into the teacher training

process. Content analysis showed that awareness of

STEM education, development of integrated learning

skills and program elements were relevant topics in

the program experience.

Toma and Retana-Alvarado (Toma and Retana-

Alvarado, 2021) considered the issue of improving

teachers’ perceptions of STEM education. This study

presents a teacher training program that aims to im-

prove teachers’ understanding of the importance of

STEM as an educational approach designed to make

progress in science education. The results of the

implementation of six different STEM models are

presented, ranging from the simplest (for example,

STEM as an abbreviation) to more developed mod-

els that meet current deﬁnitions (for example, STEM

as an educational integration of four disciplines).

Santangelo et al. (Santangelo et al., 2021)

described a multi-institution, multidisciplinary ap-

proach to transforming undergraduate STEM educa-

tion. “It is founded upon three strong theoretical

frameworks: Communities of Transformation, sys-

tems design for organizational change, and emergent

outcomes for the diffusion of innovations in STEM

education. . . While the systemic transformation of

STEM higher education is challenging, the (STEM)

Network directly addresses those challenges by bridg-

ing disciplinary and institutional silos and leveraging

the reward structure of the current system to support

faculty as they work to transform this very system”.

Dare et al. (Dare et al., 2021) show that all teacher

participants viewed STEM education from an integra-

tive perspective that fosters the development of 21st

century skills, using real-world problems to motivate

students; that teachers have varying ideas related to

the STEM disciplines within integrated STEM in-

struction, which could assist teacher educators in

preparing high-quality professional development ex-

periences. Findings related to real-world problems,

21st century skills, and STEM careers provide a win-

dow into how to best support teachers to include these

characteristics into their teaching more explicitly.

The study by AlMuraie et al. (AlMuraie et al.,

2021) aimed to recognize upper-secondary school sci-

ence teachers’ perceptions of the meaning, impor-

tance, and integrating mechanisms of science, tech-

nology, engineering, math (STEM) education, tak-

ing into account the differences between the science

teachers’ perceptions according to their specialties,

years of experience, and degrees. The results showed

a strong alignment in the upper-secondary school sci-

ence teachers’ perceptions of the meaning and impor-

tance of STEM education, although there was less of

a consensus regarding the mechanisms of integration.

Based on the results, the authors’ recommendations

included intensifying professional development pro-

grams on utilizing technology, engineering, and math-

ematics in learning science concepts and their appli-

cations.

Carmona-Mesa et al. (Carmona-Mesa et al., 2020)

shows the experience of integrating mathematics with

physics and technology through mathematical model-

ing. These results show that such practical experience

allowed mathematics teachers to think about training

before starting work. This indicates the level of train-

ing and potential that contributes to the integration of

STEM education in their future professional activi-

ties.

There is a broad consensus on the need to pro-

mote scientiﬁc literacy and promote the full devel-

opment of students’ competence in education. The

toolkit for this is interdisciplinarity, the continuous

questioning of traditional teaching methods due to

their ineffectiveness. Ortiz-Revilla et al. (Ortiz-

Revilla et al., 2022) proposed a theoretical basis for

integrated scientiﬁc, technical, engineering and math-

ematical (STEM) education, built a consistent model

that can contribute to the development of coherent in-

tegrated education STEM, gave an example of real ap-

plication of this theoretical framework in developing,

implementing and evaluating didactic block STEM.

Using the cognitive neuroscientiﬁc paradigm of

spatial navigation, Li and Wang (Li and Wang, 2021)

investigate the spatial cognitive process in STEM

students and its role in STEM education is stud-

ied. The results of the research showed that students

with higher levels of navigation cue integration had

better academic performance in STEM learning; the

best academic achievements in natural and mathe-

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

661

matical disciplines relied more on the use of inter-

nal signals of self-movement, while the best academic

achievements in engineering and technology relied

more on the use of external landmarks. Research

sheds some light on the spatial cognitive process and

its role in STEM education from the cognitive neu-

roscience perspective, thus deepening the functional

understanding of spatial ability as a systemic source

of individual differences for STEM education, and

provides an empirical reference point for interdisci-

plinary studies on the role of cognition in the context

of STEM education.

Research by Yıldırım (Yıldırım, 2022) inves-

tigated teachers’ views of Massive Open Online

Courses (MOOCs) in STEM education. Participants

use MOOCs because they are free of charge and have

good content and high quality. MOOCs help them

learn science, technology, engineering, and mathe-

matics, gain professional knowledge, and develop

skills, and positive attitudes and values. It is recom-

mended that MOOCs be designed in such a way that

they increase participants’ motivation and allow for

feedback.

Mella-Norambuena et al. (Mella-Norambuena

et al., 2021) analyzed the use of smartphones by

students studying science, technology, engineering

and mathematics (STEM) during the COVID-19 pan-

demic. Among the expected results, the researchers

hope that the results of the study encourage teachers

to plan their activities so that learning takes place syn-

chronously.

The connection between learning and group work

is often seen as obvious, but today’s conditions re-

quire further study of the social organization of group

work. Group work is an arena of learning in STEM

education (Rusk and Rønning, 2020). Participants or-

ganize their social interaction and cooperation dur-

ing group work. Important factors that may affect

group work include access to physical resources, par-

ticipants ’expressed knowledge and focus on par-

ticipants’ expressed knowledge, and access to new

knowledge.

Lasica et al. (Lasica et al., 2019) review the

project Enlivened Laboratories in Science, Technol-

ogy, Engineering and Mathematics (EL-STEM) and

describe the possibilities of using augmented reality

in STEM – education to attract students and increase

their interest in EL-STEM, improve student perfor-

mance in STEM – training. In addition, EL-STEM

provides teachers with high-quality professional de-

velopment opportunities to acquire knowledge and

skills for the effective implementation of augmented

and mixed reality (AR / MR) technologies in teaching

and learning.

Rahman’s results of the thematic analysis (Rah-

man, 2021) showed that the expected learning out-

comes in robotics lessons are related not only to the

educational achievements (content knowledge) ob-

served in traditional learning, but also to the improve-

ment of behavioral, social, scientiﬁc, cognitive and in-

tellectual opportunities and abilities of students. The

author propose a set of indicators and methods for

separate assessment of learning outcomes. The re-

sults of the study of educators and teachers showed

the approval of participants in the educational pro-

cess, the effectiveness and suitability of indicators

and assessment methods. As a result, the proposed

scheme of evaluation of learning outcomes can be

used to assess and justify the beneﬁts and advan-

tages of robotics-enabled STEM education, compare

results, help improve training, motivate decision mak-

ers, negotiate education using STEM robotics and

curriculum development, and promote STEM educa-

tion with robotics support.

Chang and Chen’s research (Chang and Chen,

2022) aimed to study psychomotor productivity and

perception on the basis of practical STEM training in

task-oriented educational robotics. The study used

a convergent parallel mixed method to collect both

quantitative and qualitative data for the same period of

time. The teacher’s teaching reached the highest level

of perception, and the teaching material, the complex-

ity of the training, the administrative services, the ed-

ucational activities and the course schedule were con-

sistent. Chang and Chen (Chang and Chen, 2022) has

conﬁrmed that a practical approach to task-oriented

STEM learning is effective for teaching students edu-

cational robotics. Finally, the study offers values and

recommendations for working in robotics.

Sarı et al. (Sarı et al., 2022) argue that there is a

need for practical classes on how to develop algorith-

mic thinking and what activities and learning content

can be used in lessons. A study of mixed methods

examined the impact of STEM-focused physical com-

puting with the Arduino on algorithmic thinking skills

and STEM candidate awareness. In addition, the roles

of the student and the teacher in the activity and the

advantages and disadvantages of the activity were dis-

cussed, taking into account the opinion of the candi-

dates for teachers. The results showed that STEM-

oriented physical calculations developed algorithmic

thinking skills in teacher candidates.

Kovtoniuk and Didovyk (Kovtoniuk and Didovyk,

2018) note that in modern conditions for the suc-

cessful training of future teachers of mathematics and

physics there is an urgent need to design and imple-

ment innovative methods and technologies in the ﬁeld

of management and education. It is through the in-

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

662

troduction of innovative technologies that the modern

educational space is actively formed as an open, inte-

gral and dynamic subsystem of social space, in which

educational activities are carried out and the forma-

tion and formation of personality, acquisition of ba-

sic and professional competencies. Among the con-

sidered innovations the authors give priority to those

technologies that are based on problem-based learn-

ing: project method, research method, modular and

distance learning, dialogue form of innovation, im-

mersion.

Training in STEM centers is becoming increas-

ingly important to meet new educational needs,

caused mainly by the high speed with which new

technologies have been entering our lives in recent

years. Existing university e-learning systems can en-

hance the capacity of these centers by providing col-

laborative learning material. Stoyanov et al. (Stoy-

anov et al., 2022) presents a distributed educational

platform that supports the sharing of educational ma-

terial at the university and in STEM centers in sec-

ondary schools. Also presented platform architecture,

which includes two main components. The univer-

sity e-learning environment works as a back-end, and

the external component is located in the STEM center.

In addition, Stoyanov et al. (Stoyanov et al., 2022)

consider the implemented prototype of the platform.

The use of the platform is demonstrated by two edu-

cational games. The platform is expanded with four

educational robots to increase the attractiveness of the

educational process.

Fedoniuk et al. (Fedoniuk et al., 2021) has shown

that the process of STEM projects development re-

quires solving many organizational, psychological-

pedagogical, educational-methodical issues: develop-

ment of appropriate educational-methodical support,

formation of culture of research work, development

of creative abilities, cognitive and creative activity of

listeners, formation of individual style of their scien-

tiﬁc activities. The authors assessed the special role

of ICT use in out-of-school education of research and

experimental direction is estimated, which promotes

the emergence of new educational opportunities ad-

vanced forms, methods and means of education.

Rushton and King (Rushton and King, 2020) sug-

gest that play has an important pedagogical role in in-

formal STEM activities, including making, when it is

grounded in free-choice exploration and imagination.

Therefore, the game is a pedagogical tool to support

gender inclusive participation in non-formal STEM

education. They identify that play has three key af-

fordances, namely: (1) play can provide structure,

(2) play is considered to be synonymous with open-

ended science inquiry, and, (3) play can enable gen-

der inclusive STEM spaces through promoting free-

choice (Rushton and King, 2020).

Zhu (Zhu, 2020) described effective pedagogical

strategies for STEM Education from Instructors’ Per-

spective. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Open Course Ware is one of the earliest Open Ed-

ucational Resources. The most effective pedagog-

ical strategies used by teachers were active learn-

ing, personalization of learning, involvement of stu-

dents, providing feedback, creating a learning com-

munity and clarifying the purpose of learning. Teach-

ers faced problems such as assessing student learning

and changing pedagogical beliefs.

Soia et al. (Soia et al., 2021) presents the gen-

eral characteristics of mobile technologies and means

of teaching STEM education in institutions of gen-

eral secondary and higher pedagogical education. The

model of using mobile educational environments in

the process of teaching students of pedagogical insti-

tutions of higher education as a system combination

of target, content, technological and effective struc-

tural blocks is presented. An analysis of the digital-

ization of education to ensure access and improve the

quality of the educational process of pupils / students

with special educational needs through mobile educa-

tional environments.

The overall aim of paper by Ortiz-Revilla et al.

(Ortiz-Revilla et al., 2020) is to establish an initial

framework for philosophical discussion, to help anal-

yse the aims and discourse of integrated STEM ed-

ucation, and consider the implications that adopting

any particular epistemological view might have on the

aims for general education, and on the construction

of science curricula oriented towards citizenship and

social justice. Authors envisage humanist values for

integrated STEM education and, after revisiting the

currently proposed relationships between the STEM

knowledge areas, adopt a model of a “seamless web”

for such relationships that is coherent with humanist

values. A few issues emerging from this model are

addressed through the lens of the so-called “family re-

semblance approach”, a framework from the ﬁeld of

research on the nature of science, in order to identify

some potential central features of “nature of STEM”.

Ross et al. (Ross et al., 2022) examined the re-

sponses of STEM academics in higher education to

educational reform of the academic role using the the-

oretical construct of resilience and Bronfenbrenner’s

socio-ecological model. Five major themes emerged

about value and quality, scholarship and expertise,

progress and mobility, status and identity and commu-

nity and culture of STEM academics focused on edu-

cation. Therefore more attention on the direction and

reciprocal relationships in the socio-ecological model

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

663

of higher education is needed in order for educational

reform in higher education STEM to be effective.

McGee (McGee, 2020) conducted research and

critical analysis of structural racism in STEM higher

education. The racial structure of higher education

in STEM has been shown to support gross inequal-

ity, which illustrates structural racism, which both in-

forms and reinforces discriminatory beliefs, policies,

values and resource allocation.

Tandrayen-Ragoobur and Gokulsing (Tandrayen-

Ragoobur and Gokulsing, 2022) investigated the pres-

ence of potential gender disparities in admission to

higher education STEM. The article explores a com-

bination of personal, environmental and behavioral

factors that can inﬂuence women’s participation in

STEM education and careers. The results of the

study reveal the existence of a gender mismatch in

the choice of STEM-related degrees and provide ad-

ditional evidence of lower participation of women in

STEM professions, as well as signiﬁcant problems

faced by women in STEM careers compared to their

male counterparts.

Kara et al. (Kara et al., 2021) assessed the impact

of class size on the academic performance of univer-

sity students, distinguishing between areas of STEM

and non-STEM. The authors investigated the hetero-

geneity of the effect in terms of socioeconomic status,

abilities and gender of students, ﬁnding that smaller

classes are especially useful for students with low so-

cioeconomic level, and within STEM areas for stu-

dents with higher abilities and male students.

Davey et al. (Davey et al., 2021) consid-

ered individual-oriented approaches to accessibility in

STEM education. “Building on discipline-based ed-

ucation research (DBER) principles in science, tech-

nology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) edu-

cation, a modiﬁed holistic approach is proposed that

primarily centers on students and tailors the teach-

ing methods to the needs of individuals and the dy-

namic of the whole class”. Best practice guidelines

may serve as a starting point for other educators to be-

come more aware of the sociocultural needs of their

individual students and classrooms, which may result

in a move towards equity in STEM higher education.

Bittinger et al. (Bittinger et al., 2021) investigated

the career aspirations of high school students, mod-

eling the probability that students with individualized

education programs (IEPs) aspire to a STEM career.

The results did not show any differences in STEM ca-

reer aspirations, lower math and science identities for

students with IEPs, and proportionally more students

with ADHD aspiring to STEM careers.

Through the analysis of scientiﬁc and method-

ological sources, it was found that the introduction

of education in the ﬁeld of STEM is relevant for

Ukraine and is rapidly gaining popularity. This is

evidenced by numerous studies and publications (Bi-

lyk et al., 2022; Botuzova, 2018; Burak and Holovko,

2021; Hrynevych et al., 2021; Kramarenko et al.,

2020; Lukychova et al., 2022; Martyniuk et al.,

2021a,b; Mintii, 2023; Morze et al., 2022; Oleksiuk

and Oleksiuk, 2022; Pylypenko, 2020; Shapovalov

et al., 2019a,b, 2020; Valko et al., 2020). The authors’

works on the problem of research directly in higher

education are thorough. In particular, Balyk and

Shmyher (Balyk and Shmyher, 2017) characterize the

main approaches and features of modern STEM edu-

cation, determine promising steps in the implementa-

tion of STEM training at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk

National Pedagogical University through the creation

of STEM center “Digital Scholars” at the Depart-

ment of Computer Science and Teaching Methods;

Botuzova (Botuzova, 2018) reveals competence and

STEM approaches in the professional training of fu-

ture teachers of mathematics; Tsinko (Tsinko, 2017)

emphasizes that the training of teachers of the new

format in higher pedagogical educational institutions

should be carried out from the standpoint of the in-

troduction of STEM education in Ukraine; Podliesnyi

and Tarasov (Podliesnyi and Tarasov, 2019) describe

the relevance of the use of STEM-STEAM-STREAM

technologies in the ﬁeld of engineering education.

3 METHODS

Theoretical analysis of research works and re-

sources containing materials about current realities

and promising areas of STEM center as an educa-

tional resource of STEM education contributes to the

development and implementation of STEM center for

training in the context of natural sciences and math-

ematics education (STEM education) on the basis of

Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical

University.

3.1 Theoretical Framework

In order for civil society to properly perceive the state

initiative on STEM education, a number of efforts

should be made to reduce obstacles to its successful

development. In particular, to strengthen the moti-

vational component of the implementation of STEM

projects, as there is a loss of interest among entrants

in natural sciences and mathematics. There is an ur-

gent need to train qualiﬁed tutors for STEM educa-

tion at all levels of its implementation. It is important

that future teachers are aware of the basics of STEM

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

664

education services. Obtaining a higher education de-

gree is not the end point of training highly qualiﬁed

specialists. Due to the rapid development of mod-

ern science and new technologies, graduate subject

teachers are in a state of constant professional devel-

opment and regularly need training in the ﬁeld of sci-

ence and mathematics education (STEM education),

and novice teachers also need mentorship from expe-

rienced colleagues. The establishment and operation

of STEM centers in higher education institutions that

train teachers will enhance the prestige of their work,

build readiness for future careers and the ability to

disseminate and promote innovation in education, as

there is a close link between teacher competence and

achievement of their students.

One of the key factors inﬂuencing the develop-

ment of STEM education as an innovative direction

in the development of science and mathematics ed-

ucation in Ukraine is the lack of ﬁnancial resources /

funds needed to fully equip STEM centers – structural

units of educational institutions established to provide

science and mathematics education, organization and

interaction of stakeholders (Cabinet of Ministers of

Ukraine, 2020). Another lever that determines the

possibility of STEM learning activities is the train-

ing of research and teaching staff to use new tech-

nologies, as well as their training, retraining or ad-

vanced training for the effective use of STEM tools

as tools for teaching and career guidance of students.

Directly in front of those who seek to create a STEM

center as a promising educational resource in their ed-

ucational institution, the problem arises of developing

integrated educational methods and educational pro-

grams aimed at the comprehensive development of

the personality of pupils and students, the formation

of algorithmic thinking and digital literacy in them,

scientiﬁc and research and other skills presented in

the Concept (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, 2020),

as well as the organization of research-oriented ac-

tivities of students using high-tech learning tools and

innovative models of education, including for people

with special educational needs.

The world is growing employment opportunities

in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,

ie in STEM areas. But without proper training and

strong motivation to study STEM disciplines, it is un-

reasonable to count on success. The opportunity to

study mathematics and natural sciences in the interac-

tive environment of the STEM center develops com-

munication and cooperation skills in students. They

become more conﬁdent and competent in these disci-

plines, especially if the object and subject of research

meet their speciﬁc interests and abilities. Current re-

search on project-based learning shows that projects

can increase students’ interest in STEM, as they in-

volve students in solving practical problems, working

in groups and ﬁnding speciﬁc solutions. Communica-

tion skills are developed by presenting the results of

their work in the form of presentations and their pub-

lic defense among stakeholders. In addition, thanks to

an integrated approach to STEM education, focused

on the study of real processes and phenomena, stu-

dents learn to reﬂect on the problem-solving process,

to build their own knowledge about the world around

them. The experience gained will be useful in future

professional activities.

As an example, we offer the project “Mathemati-

cal modeling of real processes using differential equa-

tions”. Training in our case is conditionally divided

into 3 stages. The ﬁrst stage is organizational, here the

teacher acquaints students with the project, its struc-

ture, explains the main points of the project and sug-

gests research topics (ﬁgure 1).

The second stage, in fact, is an independent work

of the student. At this stage, he needs to analyze the

content of available literature, choose the most im-

portant and appropriate. Select and solve the task set

before him, as well as interpret the result to the sur-

rounding reality.

The third stage is the design and defense of the re-

sults. Students are required to create presentations for

each task, to combine these tasks into a single project.

Evaluation and defense of the project takes place in

the form of a conference, where each student presents

both his task and the project as a whole.

The main novelty of this project is the acquain-

tance and application by students of the method of

mathematical modeling.

Thus, mathematics gives us the apparatus that

helps to explore as closely as possible the world

around us, what we face every day, or what we can

not explore with direct methods (“incomprehensible,

unattainable”). The most important thing is that math-

ematics with its methods allows us through the devel-

opment of structural (algorithmic) and logical think-

ing to realize the need to study and use interdisci-

plinary links, to form the need and willingness to

work with a personal computer. Thanks to these prop-

erties, you can easily and quickly identify the main,

essential, general, structure and relationships of the

elements and, as a result, quickly navigate in prob-

lematic situations, to develop psychological readiness

for activity (ﬁgure 2).

Since STEM education is an integration of sev-

eral disciplines, it is necessary to develop an appro-

priate approach to their teaching and learning on the

basis of STEM centers, to develop advanced training

courses and professional skills through the coopera-

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

665

Figure 1: Structure of the project.

tion of university/school teachers and the involvement

of specialists in high-tech industries in the educational

process. Maximum efforts should be made to pro-

mote the expansion of scientiﬁc and research cooper-

ation between educators, scientists, technologists, en-

gineers and other stakeholders, which will contribute

to the improvement of relationships and exchange of

information between interested parties. This will al-

low to reveal interdisciplinary connections between

ﬁelds of knowledge and will contribute to the popu-

larization of science-oriented activities promoted by

STEM education.

In order to get a new generation of highly skilled

workers, it is necessary to update the content of

natural, mathematical and technological educational

ﬁelds. The Concept (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine,

2020) deﬁnes “the essential role of mathematics in

the integrative approach to the implementation of nat-

ural and mathematical education (STEM education),

consistent, thorough, high-quality teaching”. All new

training materials should contain clear guidelines on

the workload and expected learning outcomes. STEM

tutors should use available methods, technologies and

educational strategies, and choose them according to

the purpose and objectives of a particular lesson or

course, taking into account the individual characteris-

tics of the student audience, their interests and abil-

ities, special educational needs and more. Teaching

aids and equipment for STEM centers must be care-

fully selected and deliberately adapted to the needs

of students. Only in this way will all students have

the opportunity to succeed. Therefore, classrooms

should be conducive to learning. If the necessary

tools are available in Ukrainian educational institu-

tions in sufﬁcient numbers, it will strengthen the abil-

ity of teachers to facilitate students’ learning activi-

ties and improve the educational achievements of stu-

dents. Thanks to this approach to education, future

teachers will be able to use modern technologies and

teaching aids in practical classes in STEM laborato-

ries and form an understanding that they will use such

equipment in their further professional activities.

3.2 Research Results and Discussion

Introduction of methodical decisions of STEM educa-

tion in educational process of educational institutions

allows to form in pupils, students the most important

competences of the modern expert: ability to see and

formulate a problem, ability to suggest ways of its de-

cision, ﬂexibility as ability to understand a new point

of view and stability in defending the position, origi-

nality of ideas, ability to abstract, concretize, analyze

and synthesize. The implementation of STEM educa-

tion approaches presupposes that students learn about

technology, ﬁeld of knowledge and acquire practical

skills at the same time. Early involvement of pupils

and students in STEM can support not only the devel-

opment of creative, technical thinking, but also con-

tribute to better socialization of the individual, be-

cause it develops such skills as: cooperation, com-

munication, creativity.

Extracurricular STEM education in Ukraine is a

variety of competitions, events, activities of the Small

Academy of Sciences, clubs, centers and more.

One of the ways to develop STEM education is

the creation of appropriate centers in institutions of

higher pedagogical education, which contributes to

increasing interest in the study of natural and math-

ematical sciences among pupils, providing opportu-

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

666

Figure 2: Research project.

nities for high school pupils and students to develop

research potential on the basis of a specially created

scientiﬁc laboratory at the university and attracting

the best school graduates to the student ranks of this

higher education institution.

Within the framework of STEM education at

Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogi-

cal University at the Department of Mathematics and

Computer Science there is a STEM Center “Educa-

tional and Scientiﬁc Training Center for Computer

Science and Computer Mathematics” for junior uni-

versity students and school students, teachers of insti-

tutions of general secondary education. The purpose

of the STEM center:

• motivation to study technical, natural and mathe-

matical sciences;

• popularization of technical and natural science

and mathematics specialties;

• training of a new generation capable of accept-

ing the challenges of the future, transforming and

producing new knowledge in any independent and

group activity.

Classes in the STEM center are conducted using

the educational technology “peer to peer” (students

look at the experience of other students, and therefore

more boldly and actively get involved in the work –

“they did it and we will succeed too!”).

The main objectives of the “Educational and Sci-

entiﬁc Training Center for Computer Science and

Computer Mathematics” are: involvement of young

people in educational and practical and research ac-

tivities; deepening the knowledge of pupils and stu-

dents in technical and natural sciences; creating con-

ditions for the development of creative activity of a

young researcher; promoting students’ professional

self-determination; involvement of students in teach-

ing activities, creation of creative research teams,

preparation of the reserve of pedagogical university

students, education of students’ needs to constantly

improve their knowledge of the chosen profession.

STEM center “Educational and Scientiﬁc Training

Center for Computer Science and Computer Mathe-

matics” on the basis of the Department of Mathemat-

ics and Computer Science has been operating since

2019. Classes are held twice a month for 2 hours

on the basis of training laboratories of the Faculty

of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science of

Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical

University and are open to visitors. The main types

of classes – lectures, practical and laboratory classes,

meetings with specialists in the ﬁeld of informatics,

teachers of general secondary education, participation

in scientiﬁc and practical activities. Individual educa-

tional and research activities are combined with par-

ticipation in scientiﬁc and practical activities.

The program of work of the “Educational and

Scientiﬁc Training Center for Computer Science and

Computer Mathematics” is prepared in advance, all

members of the department, as well as members of the

STEM center of previous years take part in its forma-

tion. The topics of the center’s classes are reviewed

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

667

and updated at the beginning of the school year. The

main principles that guide teachers and students in

compiling the program are scientiﬁc, systematic, as

well as personal approach. The high level of scientiﬁc

knowledge is provided by the highly skilled scientiﬁc

staff of the department, which has experience, its own

traditions and history. Systematization is realized by

the clear planning of group meetings, and individual-

ity – in accordance with the content of group meetings

to the interests of schoolchildren, students.

In 2019-2021 STEM center worked on the fol-

lowing modern areas of computer science: Python:

tkinter library, Windows applications, Construct 2,

game creation, Platformer, one-dimensional (multi-

dimensional) arrays, modern methods of Web page

layout, ways to use graphic images in applications

with graphical interface (on Lazarus), Bezier and Her-

mit problems, practical application of knowledge and

skills in mathematics and computer science to solve

real problems on the example of Google, cryptogra-

phy: Caesar cipher, Wiegener and RSA cipher, creat-

ing cyclic animation, importing images and audio.

It should be noted that the members of the STEM

Center have repeatedly met with leading experts in

the ﬁeld of informatics. Thus, in 2019, an interesting

report “Augmented Reality (Microsoft HoloLens)”

was made by Matviishen, senior project manager of

Delphi Software and demonstrated augmented real-

ity with the latest developments in computer sci-

ence. There was a meeting with the trainer of Intel

“Learning for the Future”, “Equal Access to Qual-

ity Education”, Panasonic’s interactive equipment ex-

pert, multiple winner and winner of the “Teacher-

Innovator” competition, Microsoft trainer, Microsoft

expert teacher Poida, who acquainted the members of

the STEM center with the use of Microsoft services

in educational activities.

In the modern realities of the forced transition to

distance learning, members of the STEM center “Ed-

ucational and Scientiﬁc Training Center for Informat-

ics and Computer Mathematics” held a number of on-

line classes in which schoolchildren and students par-

ticipated. During the classes, the participants were

provided with software for performing tasks on the

subject of the corresponding class: “Actual trends in

IT. Algorithms for solving problems”; “Creating loop

animation. Import images and audio”; “Animation of

particles”; “Python basics: one-dimensional (multidi-

mensional) arrays” and others.

At the stage of empirical research, a questionnaire

was used on the attitude of pupils/students to the main

functions that should provide STEM-oriented educa-

tional environment to support the implementation of

STEM-approach in the educational process.

In order to study scientiﬁc and research inter-

ests, expectations from classes, and to determine the

priority functions of the work of the STEM center,

questionnaires and surveys of the participants of the

STEM center are systematically conducted.

In order to determine the priority functions that

should be provided by the STEM center “Educational

and Scientiﬁc Training Center for Informatics and

Computer Mathematics”, we used the online survey

method. The online survey was conducted using the

Google Form tool. Participants of the STEM cen-

ter were the respondents of the online survey. Since

the respondents were students of a senior specialized

school and students of junior courses, the survey was

conducted according to one form of the questionnaire.

Respondents were asked to rate the functions of the

STEM center that we highlighted on a scale of sig-

niﬁcance (1-5 points) (access to the initial data of the

questionnaire: https://u.to/qetDHA).

As a result of the study for data analysis we have

fully completed 82 questionnaires.

We used factor analysis to determine the question

and structure of respondents’ perceptions of the func-

tions to be performed by the STEM laboratory. Factor

analysis allows to classify survey data in the form of

factors and determine the most signiﬁcant of them for

respondents. In our research the obtained factor struc-

tures made it possible to identify the most important

functions of the STEM laboratory for the respondents.

Interpretation of the results of factor analysis was car-

ried out taking into account the contributions of the

variance of functions in total variance factor.

Factor analysis allows you to identify a number of

key factors that are the basis of the structure of the

survey data. Factor analysis was performed by the

principal components analysis and varimax rotation

(Varimax Normalized). The optimal number of fac-

tors and their statistical signiﬁcance were tested by

Kaiser’s test. According to the Kaiser criterion, it is

necessary to leave only those factors whose eigenval-

ues are greater than 1.0; factor load is considered sig-

niﬁcant if its absolute value is greater than 0.5. To

determine the stability of the resulting factors, a sin-

gle factor must contain at least two components.

The result of the selection of factors indicates that

the 3-factor solution is optimal for the study data at a

signiﬁcance level of p smaller than 0.05 (table 1).

Summarizing the results of factor analysis, we can

conclude that the function “Ensuring the mobility of

students” does not belong to any factor, which indi-

cates that this function is not signiﬁcant for respon-

dents in the functioning of STEM center.

The percentage of the total variance of each of the

identiﬁed factors is determined, the results are shown

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

668

Table 1: Factor loads of STEM laboratory functions.

№ Function

Factor

I II III

1 Ensuring learning mobility of pupils / students -0.021 0.454 0.138

2 Participation in competitions 0.789 0.047 0.112

3 Assistance in conducting STEM research 0.815 0.091 -0.092

4 Participation in competitions of student scientiﬁc works / MAS 0.697 0.031 0.187

5 Development of algorithmic thinking of pupils / students 0.118 0.096 0.909

6 Development of creative thinking of pupils / students 0.130 0.224 0.885

7 Development of collective cooperation between pupils / students; -0.314 0.801 0.068

teachers, professionals and employers

8 Providing a combination of creativity and technical knowledge 0.239 0.201 0.701

9 Emphasis on the integration of academic disciplines 0.496 0.751 -0.034

10 Writing mathematical creative projects of applied direction 0.729 -0.016 0.153

in table 2.

From table 2, the ﬁrst factor explains the 62.661%

variance of the functions and includes the following

functions:

• “Participation in competitions” (factor load –

0.789);

• “Assistance in conducting STEM-research” (fac-

tor load – 0.815);

• “Participation in competitions of student research

papers / IAS” (factor load – 0.697);

• “Writing mathematical creative projects of ap-

plied direction” (factor load – 0.729).

Summarizing the content of the functions included

in the ﬁrst factor, we can highlight a common fea-

ture – all of them to some extent demonstrate the de-

sire of respondents to participate in research and feel

in the role of scientists.

The second factor explains 30.753% of the vari-

ance and includes the following functions:

• “Development of collective cooperation between

pupils / students; teachers, specialists and em-

ployers “(factor load – 0.801);

• “Emphasis on the integration of academic disci-

plines” (factor load – 0.751).

For the functions included in the second factor, we

can identify such a common feature – the deepening

of cooperation between the parties to the educational

process.

The third factor explains 49.819% of the variance

and includes the following functions:

• “Development of algorithmic thinking of pupils /

students” (factor load – 0.909);

• “Development of creative thinking of pupils / stu-

dents” (factor load – 0.885);

• “Ensuring a combination of creativity and techni-

cal knowledge” (factor load – 0.701).

For the functions of the third factor we can iden-

tify such a common feature – the formation of inno-

vative thinking, mastering the tools of a creative ap-

proach to solving innovative problems.

Thus, the results of the factor analysis allowed us

to identify the structure of the main factors in rela-

tion to the functions to be provided by the STEM

laboratory. The most important factor is the one

that includes functions that demonstrate the respon-

dents’ desire to participate in research. Therefore,

in the planning of the work of the STEAM center,

considerable attention is paid to the participation of

pupils/students in Olympiads, competitions of student

scientiﬁc works, and the small academy of sciences.

The analysis of the internal consistency of the

questionnaire on the main functions to be provided by

the STEM laboratory was carried out by determining

the correlation between factors and its components

(table 3).

The level of correlation between the components

varies from very weak to moderate (from 0.27 to

0.47), which indicates a high level of discriminant va-

lidity of the questionnaire.

During the research, we studied the expediency

and effectiveness of the operation of the STEM center

in relation to educational, economic and social indica-

tors.

The effectiveness of the work of the “Educa-

tional and Scientiﬁc Training Center for Computer

Science and Computer Mathematics” in terms of ed-

ucational indicators is evidenced by the achievements

of pupils/students in various Olympiads, competi-

tions, and presentations at conferences. Thus, sig-

niﬁcant success was achieved by students who took

part in the II stage of the All-Ukrainian Student

Olympiad in Programming (quarter ﬁnals of the ACM

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

669

Table 2: The cumulative variance is explained.

Factor Eigenvalue Cumulative Eigenvalue % Total variance Cumulative %

I 1.284 6.266 6.266 62.661

II 3.075 3.075 30.753 30.753

III 1.907 4.982 4.982 49.819

Table 3: Correlation between the functions of the STEM laboratory.

Functions № 1 № 2 № 3 № 4 № 5 № 6 № 7 № 8 № 9 № 10

№1 1.00 0.02 0.18 0.08 0.22 0.09 0.25 0.16 0.06 0.12

№2 0.02 1.00 0.61 0.47 0.12 0.25 -0.21 0.18 0.24 0.43

№3 0.18 0.61 1.00 0.42 0.12 0.00 -0.18 0.20 0.34 0.47

№4 0.08 0.47 0.42 1.00 0.23 0.20 -0.16 0.21 0.29 0.41

№5 0.22 0.12 0.12 0.23 1.00 0.71 0.10 0.14 0.12 0.22

№6 0.09 0.25 0.00 0.20 0.71 1.00 0.18 0.35 0.20 0.21

№7 0.25 -0.21 -0.18 -0.16 0.10 0.18 1.00 0.40 0.22 -0.14

№8 0.16 0.18 0.20 0.21 0.14 0.35 0.40 1.00 0.39 0.15

№9 0.06 0.24 0.34 0.29 0.12 0.20 0.22 0.39 1.00 0.38

№10 0.12 0.43 0.47 0.41 0.22 0.21 -0.14 0.15 0.38 1.00

ICPC World Championship) in the South-West re-

gion (2019). The VSPU-BreakOut team, consisting

of Dmytro Boichuk, Svitlana Tkachenko, and Yuri

Lyulko, took 1st place among the teams of peda-

gogical educational institutions and 2nd place among

the teams of pedagogical educational institutions in

the III (ﬁnal) stage of the All-Ukrainian Student Pro-

gramming Olympiad, Maria Levytska participated in

the All-Ukrainian competition of student scientiﬁc

works in mathematics and statistics and was awarded

a diploma for signiﬁcant achievements. Participant

of the STEM center and student of the senior spe-

cialized school Iryna Turzhanska won the ﬁrst place

in the II stage and the III place in the III stage of

the All-Ukrainian competition for the defense of re-

search works of students who are members of the

Small Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Using the method of surveying pupils/students,

we have determined the competencies that, in their

opinion, contribute to the formation of classes in the

STEM center. According to the results of the survey,

96% of respondents chose the competence “develop-

ment of technical culture”, “acquiring experience of

own design activity” – 85%, “acquiring experience

of inventive activity” – 56%, “acquiring experience

of research and experimental activity” – 65%, “de-

velopment of design abilities” – 86%, “development

of logical thinking” – 96%; “development of creative

initiative and self-realization” – 98%.

The STEM center is free for pupils/students, so

from the point of view of the economic effect, it con-

tributes to the optimization of ﬁnancial expenses by

parents for extracurricular education of children in the

direction of STEM.

Among the social indicators related to the func-

tioning of the STEM center, we single out the popu-

larization of STEM education, increasing the prestige

of science and mathematics professions.

4 CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction of methodical decisions of STEM educa-

tion in educational process of educational institutions

allows to form in pupils, students the most important

competences of the modern expert: ability to see and

formulate a problem, ability to suggest ways of its so-

lution, ﬂexibility as ability to understand a new point

of view and stability in defending the position, origi-

nality of ideas, ability to abstract, concretize, analyze

and synthesize. The implementation of STEM educa-

tion approaches presupposes that students learn about

technology, ﬁeld of knowledge and acquire practical

skills at the same time. Early involvement of pupils

and students in STEM can support not only the devel-

opment of creative, technical thinking, but also con-

tribute to better socialization of the individual, be-

cause it develops such skills as: cooperation, com-

munication, creativity.

As a result of the research, we highlighted the

key performance indicators of the STEM center “Ed-

ucational and Scientiﬁc Training Center for Com-

puter Science and Computer Mathematics” at Vinnyt-

sia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical Uni-

versity:

• for the university: promotion of STEM education

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

670

among young people;

• for teachers: mastering modern technologies in

demand in the labor market, awakening interest

of students in the disciplines of the natural cycle,

the disclosure of creative potential of youth, the

search for talented youth, talents;

• for students: increasing competitiveness in the la-

bor market through the mastery of modern tech-

nologies, participation in competitions, contests,

competitions of student research papers;

• for teachers of general secondary education: pro-

viding methodological assistance on the imple-

mentation of STEM education in the educational

process;

• for students of general secondary education in-

stitutions: participation in competitions, research

contests of the Small Academy of Sciences of

Ukraine, adaptation of future entrants to the con-

ditions of student scientiﬁc activity; the opportu-

nity to decide on the choice of a future profession,

which will inﬂuence the choice of a higher educa-

tion institution for further education and realiza-

tion of a life trajectory;

• for parents: free participation of students in the

projects of the STEM center will allow to opti-

mize ﬁnancial expenses from the family budget

for extracurricular education in the STEM direc-

tion.

In the future, the STEM center plans to design and

operate a laboratory for educational robotics.

It is planned that the main purpose of the labora-

tory of educational robotics will be:

• information and analytical work on topical issues

of robotics in order to provide information to the

educational process, strengthening its practical di-

rection;

• use of software to control the electronics and me-

chanics of robots;

• collection of materials for research and prepara-

tion of publications in accordance with the scien-

tiﬁc topics of the laboratory;

• 3D modeling and printing of prototypes and

ready-made models of robots on a 3D printer;

• analysis of world practices in the ﬁeld of robotics

and information technology;

• organization and participation in scientiﬁc, edu-

cational and educational activities in the ﬁeld of

robotics.

On the basis of STEM laboratory in the future it

is planned to conduct a training course on the organi-

zation of project-technological and interdisciplinary

project activities, development of methods of STEM

training, creation of interactive complexes for lessons,

reports, lectures, laboratory and practical classes, pre-

sentations for studying natural sciences and mathe-

matics.

The results of the pedagogical research on the per-

ception of responders of the functions performed by

the STEM center were analyzed by means of factor

analysis. Factor analysis was performed using prin-

cipal component analysis and varimax rotation (Vari-

max Normalized). The optimal number of factors and

their statistical signiﬁcance were checked according

to the Kaiser criterion.

So, the goal has been achieved, the tasks of the

scientiﬁc research have been successfully fulﬁlled,

namely:

• the analysis of trends in the development of ed-

ucation in the ﬁeld of STEM has been carried

out based on the practical experience of scientists

from different countries;

• the normative and legal ﬁeld of implementation

of the state program of the STEM ﬁeld in Ukraine

was investigated;

• thanks to the experience of the operation of the

STEM center “Educational and Scientiﬁc Train-

ing Center for Computer Science and Computer

Mathematics” on the basis of the Department of

Mathematics and Computer Science of the Vin-

nytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogi-

cal University, the popularization of STEM edu-

cation among young people, teachers of general

secondary education institutions and teachers has

been ensured higher educational institutions;

• the purpose of the operation of the STEM cen-

ter for junior year students and pupils, teachers

of general secondary education institutions, key

indicators affecting the development of education

in the ﬁeld of STEM as an innovative direction of

the development of science and mathematics edu-

cation in Ukraine is deﬁned;

• holding meetings in the direction of STEM edu-

cation with leading specialists in the ﬁeld of com-

puter science to involve scientiﬁc and pedagogical

workers in the use of new technologies, as well as

their training, retraining or advanced training for

the effective use of STEM tools as tools for train-

ing and career guidance of pupils/students;

• a questionnaire was conducted, interviewing re-

spondents to study scientiﬁc research interests,

expectations from classes, determining the prior-

ity functions of the STEM center, competences,

the formation of which is facilitated by classes,

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

671

to analyze the structure and perception by re-

spondents of the functions that the STEM center

should perform, we used factor analysis;

• determined the prospects for further research.

REFERENCES

AlMuraie, E. A., Algarni, N. A., and Alahmad, N. S.

(2021). Upper-secondary school science teachers’

perceptions of the integrating mechanisms and impor-

tance of STEM education. Journal of Baltic Science

Education, 20(4):546–557. https://doi.org/10.33225/

jbse/21.20.546.

Balyk, N. and Shmyher, G. (2017). Approaches and pe-

culiarities of modern STEM-education. Physical and

Mathematical Education, (2(12)):26–30. http://nbuv.

gov.ua/UJRN/fmo 2017 2 6.

Bilyk, Z. I., Shapovalov, Y. B., Shapovalov, V. B., Me-

galinska, A. P., Zhadan, S. O., Andruszkiewicz, F.,

Dołha

nczuk-

odka, A., and Antonenko, P. D. (2022).

Comparison of Google Lens recognition performance

with other plant recognition systems. Educational

Technology Quarterly, 2022(4):328–346. https://doi.

org/10.55056/etq.433.

Bittinger, J. D., Wells, R. S., and Kimball, E. W. (2021).

STEM Career Aspirations for High School Students

with Individualized Education Programs. The Educa-

tional Forum, 85(1):49–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/

00131725.2020.1772928.

Botuzova, Y. V. (2018). Competent and STEM ap-

proaches in the professional training of future

teachers of mathematics. Academic Notes.

Series: Pedagogical Sciences, 173(2):51–54.

https://www.cuspu.edu.ua/images/conferences/2018/

VIIMiznarod/Zbirnik statey VII konf.pdf.

Burak, V. I. and Holovko, D. V. (2021). Measuring accel-

eration at uniformly accelerated motion in terms of

differentiation of learning. Educational Dimension,

5:194–207. https://doi.org/10.31812/educdim.4449.

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (2020). Pro skhvalen-

nia Kontseptsii rozvytku pryrodnycho-matematychnoi

osvity (STEM-osvity) [On approval of the Concept of

development of natural and mathematical education

(STEM-education)]. https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/

show/960-2020-#Text.

Carmona-Mesa, J. A., Cardona Zapata, M. E., and Cas-

trill

on-Yepes, A. (2020). Study of Physical Phenom-

ena in Mathematics Teachers Training. A STEM Ed-

ucation Experience. Uni-pluriversidad, 20(1):18–38.

https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.unipluri.20.1.02.

Chang, C.-C. and Chen, Y. (2022). Using mastery learn-

ing theory to develop task-centered hands-on STEM

learning of Arduino-based educational robotics: psy-

chomotor performance and perception by a conver-

gent parallel mixed method. Interactive Learning

Environments, 30(9):1677–1692. https://doi.org/10.

1080/10494820.2020.1741400.

Dare, E. A., Keratithamkul, K., Hiwatig, B. M., and Li, F.

(2021). Beyond Content: The Role of STEM Dis-

ciplines, Real-World Problems, 21st Century Skills,

and STEM Careers within Science Teachers’ Con-

ceptions of Integrated STEM Education. Educa-

tion Sciences, 11(11):737. https://doi.org/10.3390/

educsci11110737.

Davey, T., Salazar Luces, J. V., and Davenport, R. (2021).

Individual-Centred Approaches to Accessibility in

STEM Education. Education Sciences, 11(10):652.

https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100652.

Fedoniuk, V. V., Fedoniuk, M. A., and Pushkar, N. S.

(2021). ICT application in the development of

STEM-projects in geoscience extracurricular edu-

cation. Information Technologies and Learning

Tools, 85(5):78–94. https://doi.org/10.33407/itlt.

v85i5.3955.

Hrynevych, L., Morze, N., Vember, V., and Boiko, M.

(2021). Use of digital tools as a component of STEM

education ecosystem. Educational Technology Quar-

terly, 2021(1):118–139. https://doi.org/10.55056/etq.

24.

IMZO (2018a). STEM-osvita [STEM-education]. http://

imzo.gov.ua/stem-osvita/.

IMZO (2018b). Viddil STEM-osvity [STEM-education

department. https://imzo.gov.ua/pro-imzo/struktura/

viddil-stem-osviti/.

Jong, M. S.-Y., Song, Y., Soloway, E., and Norris, C.

(2021). Editorial Note: Teacher Professional Devel-

opment in STEM Education. Educational Technology

& Society, 24(4):81–85. https://www.jstor.org/stable/

48629246.

Kara, E., Tonin, M., and Vlassopoulos, M. (2021). Class

size effects in higher education: Differences across

STEM and non-STEM ﬁelds. Economics of Edu-

cation Review, 82:102104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.

econedurev.2021.102104.

Kovtoniuk, M. M. and Didovyk, M. V. (2018). Forma-

tion of an innovative environment for future teach-

ers of mathematics and physics. Modern infor-

mational technologies and innovative methods in

professional training: methodology, theory, expe-

rience, problems, 50:293–298. https://doi.org/10.

31652/2412-1142-2018-50-293.

Kramarenko, T. H., Pylypenko, O. S., and Muzyka, I. O.

(2020). Application of GeoGebra in Stereometry

teaching. CTE Workshop Proceedings, 7:705–718.

https://doi.org/10.55056/cte.418.

Lasica, I.-E., Meletiou-Mavrotheris, M., Mavrotheris, E.,

Pitsikalis, S., Katzis, K., Dimopoulos, C., and Tini-

akos, C. (2019). Enlivened Laboratories within STEM

Education (EL-STEM): A Case Study of Augmented

Reality in Secondary Education. In Prodromou, T., ed-

itor, Augmented Reality in Educational Settings, chap-

ter 12, pages 267 – 294. Brill, Leiden, The Nether-

lands. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004408845 012.

Li, X. and Wang, W. (2021). Exploring Spatial Cogni-

tive Process Among STEM Students and Its Role in

STEM Education. Science & Education, 30(1):121–

145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-020-00167-x.

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

672

Lukychova, N. S., Osypova, N. V., and Yuzbasheva, G. S.

(2022). ICT and current trends as a path to STEM

education: implementation and prospects. CTE Work-

shop Proceedings, 9:39–55. https://doi.org/10.55056/

cte.100.

Maldonado, Y. P., Burelo, E. D. L. C., and Solorzano, C.

M. V. (2020). The problem of pseudo-STEM pro-

grams in higher education: A classiﬁcation criterion.

Cogent Education, 7(1):1833813. https://doi.org/10.

1080/2331186X.2020.1833813.

Martyniuk, O. O., Martyniuk, O. S., and Muzyka, I. O.

(2021a). Formation of informational and digital

competence of secondary school students in labora-

tory work in physics. CTE Workshop Proceedings,

8:366–383. https://doi.org/10.55056/cte.294.

Martyniuk, O. O., Martyniuk, O. S., Pankevych, S.,

and Muzyka, I. (2021b). Educational direction of

STEM in the system of realization of blended teach-

ing of physics. Educational Technology Quarterly,

2021(3):347–359. https://doi.org/10.55056/etq.39.

McGee, E. O. (2020). Interrogating Structural Racism

in STEM Higher Education. Educational Re-

searcher, 49(9):633–644. https://doi.org/10.3102/

0013189X20972718.

Mella-Norambuena, J., Cobo-Rendon, R., Lobos, K., S

aez-

Delgado, F., and Maldonado-Trapp, A. (2021). Smart-

phone Use among Undergraduate STEM Students

during COVID-19: An Opportunity for Higher Ed-

ucation? Education Sciences, 11(8):417. https:

//doi.org/10.3390/educsci11080417.

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (2016).

Pro utvorennia robochoi hrupy z pytan vprovadzhen-

nia STEM-osvity v Ukraini [On the formation of

a working group on the implementation of STEM-

education in Ukraine]. https://imzo.gov.ua/2016/02/

29/nakaz-mon-vid-29-02-2016-188.

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (2020). Pro

zatverdzhennia Typovoho pereliku zasobiv navchan-

nia ta obladnannia dlia navchalnykh kabinetiv i

STEM-laboratorii [On approval of the standard list

of training tools and equipment for classrooms and

STEM-laboratories]. https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/

show/z0410-20#n17.

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (2021).

Pro zavershennia doslidno-eksperymentalnoi roboty

vseukrainskoho rivnia “Naukovo-metodychni za-

sady stvorennia ta funktsionuvannia Vseukrainskoho

naukovo-metodychnoho virtualnoho STEM-tsentru

(VNMV STEM-tsentr)” za 2017-2021 roky [On

the completion of the all-Ukrainian research and

experimental work “Scientiﬁc and methodologi-

cal principles of the creation and functioning of

the All-Ukrainian scientiﬁc and methodological vir-

tual STEM center (VNMV STEM center)” for

2017-2021]. https://mon.gov.ua/storage/app/uploads/

public/619/3b9/016/6193b90166ea1533680980.pdf.

Mintii, M. M. (2023). Selection of pedagogical conditions

for training STEM teachers to use augmented reality

technologies in their work. Educational Dimension.

https://doi.org/10.31812/educdim.4951.

Morze, N. V., Mashkina, I. V., and Boiko, M. A. (2022).

Experience in training specialists with mathematical

computer modeling skills, taking into account the

needs of the modern labor market. CTE Workshop

Proceedings, 9:95–196. https://doi.org/10.55056/cte.

106.

Oleksiuk, V. P. and Oleksiuk, O. R. (2022). Examin-

ing the potential of augmented reality in the study of

Computer Science at school. Educational Technol-

ogy Quarterly, 2022(4):307–327. https://doi.org/10.

55056/etq.432.

Ortiz-Revilla, J., Ad

uriz-Bravo, A., and Greca, I. M.

(2020). A Framework for Epistemological Discus-

sion on Integrated STEM Education. Science &

Education, 29(4):857–880. https://doi.org/10.1007/

s11191-020-00131-9.

Ortiz-Revilla, J., Greca, I. M., and Arriassecq, I. (2022).

A Theoretical Framework for Integrated STEM Edu-

cation. Science & Education, 31(2):383–404. https:

//doi.org/10.1007/s11191-021-00242-x.

Podliesnyi, S. V. and Tarasov, O. F. (2019). Actuality of

Use Stem-Steam-Stream Technologies in Engineering

and Technical Education for Sustainable Development

of Ukraine’s Economy. Visnyk of Vinnytsia Politech-

nical Institute, (2):123–131. https://doi.org/10.31649/

1997-9266-2019-143-2-123-131.

Pylypenko, O. (2020). Development of critical thinking

as a means of forming STEM competencies. Ed-

ucational Dimension, 3:317–331. https://doi.org/10.

31812/educdim.v55i0.3955.

Rahman, S. M. M. (2021). Assessing and Benchmarking

Learning Outcomes of Robotics-Enabled STEM Edu-

cation. Education Sciences, 11(2):84. https://doi.org/

10.3390/educsci11020084.

Ross, P. M., Scanes, E., Poronnik, P., Coates, H., and

Locke, W. (2022). Understanding STEM academics’

responses and resilience to educational reform of aca-

demic roles in higher education. International Journal

of STEM Education, 9(1):11. https://doi.org/10.1186/

s40594-022-00327-1.

Rushton, E. A. and King, H. (2020). Play as a peda-

gogical vehicle for supporting gender inclusive en-

gagement in informal stem education. International

Journal of Science Education, Part B, 10(4):376–389.

https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2020.1853270.

Rusk, F. and Rønning, W. (2020). Group work as an arena

for learning in STEM education: negotiations of epis-

temic relationships. Education Inquiry, 11(1):36–53.

https://doi.org/10.1080/20004508.2019.1638194.

Santangelo, J., Hobbie, L., Lee, J., Pullin, M., Villa-Cuesta,

E., and Hyslop, A. (2021). The (STEM)

Network: a

multi-institution, multidisciplinary approach to trans-

forming undergraduate STEM education. Interna-

tional Journal of STEM Education, 8(1):3. https:

//doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00262-z.

Sarı, U., Pektas¸, H. M., S¸en,

O. F., and C¸ elik, H.

(2022). Algorithmic thinking development through

physical computing activities with Arduino in STEM

education. Education and Information Technolo-

gies, 27(5):6669–6689. https://doi.org/10.1007/

s10639-022-10893-0.

The Modern STEM Center as a Perspective Educational Resource for Undergraduate Science and Mathematics Training

673

Shapovalov, V. B., Shapovalov, Y. B., Bilyk, Z. I., Ata-

mas, A. I., Tarasenko, R. A., and Tron, V. V. (2019a).

Centralized information web-oriented educational en-

vironment of Ukraine. CTE Workshop Proceedings,

6:246–255. https://doi.org/10.55056/cte.383.

Shapovalov, V. B., Shapovalov, Y. B., Bilyk, Z. I., Megalin-

ska, A. P., and Muzyka, I. O. (2019b). The Google

Lens analyzing quality: an analysis of the possibility

to use in the educational process. Educational Dimen-

sion, 1:219–234. https://doi.org/10.31812/educdim.

v53i1.3844.

Shapovalov, Y. B., Shapovalov, V. B., Andruszkiewicz, F.,

and Volkova, N. P. (2020). Analyzing of main trends

of STEM education in Ukraine using stemua.science

statistics. CTE Workshop Proceedings, 7:448–461.

https://doi.org/10.55056/cte.385.

Soia, O. M., Tyutyun, L. A., and Kosovets, O. P.

(2021). General characteristics of mobile technolo-

gies and teaching aids in general secondary and

higher pedagogical education institutions. Peda-

gogical and psychological sciences: regularities and

tendencies of development, pages 252–269. Baltija

Publishing, Riga, Latvia. https://doi.org/10.30525/

978-9934-26-023-0-22.

Stoyanov, S., Glushkova, T., Tabakova-Komsalova,

V., Stoyanova-Doycheva, A., Ivanova, V., and

Doukovska, L. (2022). Integration of STEM Cen-

ters in a Virtual Education Space. Mathematics,

10(5):744. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10050744.

Takeuchi, M. A., Sengupta, P., Shanahan, M.-C., Adams,

J. D., and Hachem, M. (2020). Transdisciplinarity in

STEM education: a critical review. Studies in Sci-

ence Education, 56(2):213–253. https://doi.org/10.

1080/03057267.2020.1755802.

Tandrayen-Ragoobur, V. and Gokulsing, D. (2022). Gen-

der gap in STEM education and career choices: what

matters? Journal of Applied Research in Higher

Education, 14(3):1021–1040. https://doi.org/10.1108/

JARHE-09-2019-0235.

Toma, R. B. and Retana-Alvarado, D. A. (2021). Improv-

ing pre-service teachers’ conceptions of STEM educa-

tion. Iberoamerican Journal of Education, 87(1):15–

33. https://doi.org/10.35362/rie8714538.

Tsinko, S. V. (2017). Pidhotovka vchyteliv novoho formatu

z pozytsii uprovadzhennia STEM-osvity v Ukraini

[Training of teachers of a new format from the per-

spective of introducing STEM-education in Ukraine].

In The I Regional Scientiﬁc and Practical Web Con-

ference “STEM-education and ways of its imple-

mentation in the educational process”, pages 74–78,

Ternopil, Ukraine. TOKIPPO. http://elar.ippo.edu.te.

ua:8080/bitstream/123456789/4578/1/Cinyko.pdf.

Valko, N. V., Kushnir, N. O., and Osadchyi, V. V. (2020).

Cloud technologies for STEM education. CTE Work-

shop Proceedings, 7:435–447. https://doi.org/10.

55056/cte.384.

Yabas¸, D. and Boyaci, S. (2022). A mentorship model

for teacher education: Young STEM researchers and

practitioners program. Turkish Journal of Education,

11(1):36–55. https://doi.org/10.19128/turje.950335.

Yıldırım, B. (2022). MOOCs in STEM Education: Teacher

Preparation and Views. Technology, Knowledge and

Learning, 27(3):663–688. https://doi.org/10.1007/

s10758-020-09481-3.

Zhu, M. (2020). Effective Pedagogical Strategies for STEM

Education from Instructors’ Perspective: OER for Ed-

ucators. Open Praxis, 12(2):257–270. https://doi.org/

10.5944/openpraxis.12.2.1074.

AET 2021 - Myroslav I. Zhaldak Symposium on Advances in Educational Technology

674