Author: 1Charleine Yewou & 2Bernd Zinn
1&2University Stuttgart, Institute of Educational Science,
Department of Vocational Education focused on Teaching Technology
Azenbergstraße 12,70174, Stuttgart, Germany
Corresponding Author email: charleine.dakleu-yewou@ife.uni-stuttgart.de
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching and learning situation for science, technology education and mathematics in five African countries. The study used exploratory research design. This design aimed at describing the perception of teachers regarding the teaching and learning situation for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in five African countries, including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal. The study sample involved teachers from 13 secondary schools who teach mathematics, science, or technology subjects. A total study sample size of 24 teachers was purposively selected from the 13 schools in five African Countries. Interview guides and focus group discussions were the major data collection instruments employed by the study. The data analysis procedure was based on qualitative content analysis using the Qualitative Data Analysis software MAXQDA. The results revealed that the teaching situation in Africa has improved in recent years, but many fundamental problems and challenges in everyday school life still prevail. Based on the empirical findings, the five fields of action for improving STEM education could be analyzed through: teacher framework, teacher training, school infrastructure, competence orientation, and educational equity for girls. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the quality of STEM education in the five countries involved has not yet reached an established and robust teaching line. There is a significant need for action regarding teachers and their training, school infrastructure, and students’ motivation, especially among girls.
Keywords: Teaching situation, African countries, STEM education, Teacher training, School infrastructure, Offer situation.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Suggested Citation
Yewou, C., & Zinn, B. (2022). An Exploratory study of teaching and learning situation for STEM education in five African countries. African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 9(1), 23-39. doi https://doie.org/10.0503/ARJESS.2022777228
