Assessing Student Learning in Integrated STEM Educational Programs

Integrated STEM education has been advocated as an innovative approach to education in recent years.However, developing valid and reliable assessment of integrated STEM education has been a challenge.In this study we conducted a comprehensive review of assessment of integrated STEM education during the last decade.We collected a total of 38 empirical research articles from an initial library of 123 articles focusing on integrated STEM education.We used a two-dimensional framework to examine the literature.The first dimension concerns the nature of disciplines being assessed and includes three categories: monodiscipline, interdiscipline, and transdiscipline.The second dimension concerns the learning objectives and includes four aspects: knowledge, skill, practice, and affective domain.The results show that most assessments focused on assessments of monodisciplinary knowledge, monodisciplinary affective domains, and transdisciplinary affective domains.Although many programs aimed to improve students' understanding of interdisciplinary concepts or interdisciplinary skills, their assessments did not align with their aims.Based on the review, we suggest future directions for developing assessments for integrated STEM educational programs.