Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius
Developing strong 21st century skills is crucial for teachers, and exploring how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education experiences can contribute to this development in teacher education holds significant value. The purpose of this research was to explore how STEM educat...
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Noyam Journals
2025-05-01
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| Series: | E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/EHASS2025646.pdf |
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| author | Ronicka Mudaly Bongani P. Ndlovu Tamirirofa Chirikure Doras Sibanda Merventharan Perumal Moodley Fawzia Bibi Narod Vickren Narrainsawmy |
| author_facet | Ronicka Mudaly Bongani P. Ndlovu Tamirirofa Chirikure Doras Sibanda Merventharan Perumal Moodley Fawzia Bibi Narod Vickren Narrainsawmy |
| author_sort | Ronicka Mudaly |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Developing strong 21st century skills is crucial for teachers, and exploring how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education experiences can contribute to this development in teacher education holds significant value. The purpose of this research was to explore how STEM education experiences foster the development of 21st century skills in post-graduate teachers within the context of the Global South. Methodologically, it followed an exploratory case study with a sample of 53 postgraduate students who were purposively selected from one university in South Africa and one higher education institution in Mauritius. The first set of data was generated using a semi-structured questionnaire. To corroborate the questionnaire data, a sample of 5 postgraduate teachers was interviewed, forming the second data set. Findings from this study revealed that the “ways of thinking” were the 21st century skills that were most enhanced by the STEM experience. This is compared with other 21st century skills sets like living in the world, ways of working, and tools for working, which were developed to a lesser extent. Data from the interviews confirmed that postgraduate teachers find the ways of thinking, due to their experiences with STEM, to be the most enhanced 21st century skill. The findings in this paper have implications for teacher development, especially in STEM education. It recommends that teacher education programs in the Global South leverage the potential of STEM education experiences to equip teachers with the necessary 21st century skills for effectively preparing future generations for the challenges and opportunities they will encounter. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b3a045481fa848afb3e90f8a05636dd0 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2720-7722 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Noyam Journals |
| record_format | Article |
| series | E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-b3a045481fa848afb3e90f8a05636dd02025-08-20T03:16:17ZengNoyam JournalsE-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences2720-77222025-05-01647187https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025646Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and MauritiusRonicka Mudaly 0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7347-2098Bongani P. Ndlovu1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8198-2717Tamirirofa Chirikure2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9808-7671Doras Sibanda3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9328-3473Merventharan Perumal Moodley4https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4368-1987Fawzia Bibi Narod5https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2996-3920 Vickren Narrainsawmy6https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5428-7762University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.Mauritius Institute of Education, Reduit, Mauritius.Mauritius Institute of Education, Reduit, Mauritius.Developing strong 21st century skills is crucial for teachers, and exploring how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education experiences can contribute to this development in teacher education holds significant value. The purpose of this research was to explore how STEM education experiences foster the development of 21st century skills in post-graduate teachers within the context of the Global South. Methodologically, it followed an exploratory case study with a sample of 53 postgraduate students who were purposively selected from one university in South Africa and one higher education institution in Mauritius. The first set of data was generated using a semi-structured questionnaire. To corroborate the questionnaire data, a sample of 5 postgraduate teachers was interviewed, forming the second data set. Findings from this study revealed that the “ways of thinking” were the 21st century skills that were most enhanced by the STEM experience. This is compared with other 21st century skills sets like living in the world, ways of working, and tools for working, which were developed to a lesser extent. Data from the interviews confirmed that postgraduate teachers find the ways of thinking, due to their experiences with STEM, to be the most enhanced 21st century skill. The findings in this paper have implications for teacher development, especially in STEM education. It recommends that teacher education programs in the Global South leverage the potential of STEM education experiences to equip teachers with the necessary 21st century skills for effectively preparing future generations for the challenges and opportunities they will encounter.https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/EHASS2025646.pdfcommunication and collaborationmetacognitive awarenessstem educationtwenty-first century skills |
| spellingShingle | Ronicka Mudaly Bongani P. Ndlovu Tamirirofa Chirikure Doras Sibanda Merventharan Perumal Moodley Fawzia Bibi Narod Vickren Narrainsawmy Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences communication and collaboration metacognitive awareness stem education twenty-first century skills |
| title | Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius |
| title_full | Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius |
| title_fullStr | Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius |
| title_full_unstemmed | Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius |
| title_short | Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius |
| title_sort | post graduate teachers stem education experiences and the development of their 21st century skills a case study of two higher education institutions in south africa and mauritius |
| topic | communication and collaboration metacognitive awareness stem education twenty-first century skills |
| url | https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/EHASS2025646.pdf |
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