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Formation and Influence of Epistemic Norms in Integrated STEM Problem- Solving: a Study of Singapore Secondary Students’ STEM Inquiry

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Jina Chang at National Institute of Education
Jina Chang
Tang Wee Teo at Nanyang Technological University
Tang Wee Teo
Aik-Ling Tan at Nanyang Technological University
Aik-Ling Tan
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Abstract and Figures

Guiding students’ STEM problem solving entails dynamic processes driven by changes in real-world contexts. To understand these processes, we aimed to identify the formation and influence of ‘norms’ as shared behaviour patterns desirable in STEM problem-solving. To this end, 10 sessions of STEM lessons for secondary students were carried out, and we collected data comprising lesson observation videos, fieldnotes, interviews, and photographs of students’ artifacts. The data were analysed based on three features of norms: justifiability, sharing, and behaviours. The results report three epistemic norms in STEM problem-solving. First, the norm of ‘defining a real-world problem that is useful and accessible’ was found. While the students searched for useful problems in their everyday lives, they also needed to ensure that these problems were scoped such that they had the capacity to manage them. The second norm was ‘designing creative and concrete prototypes’. Students’ prototypes were expected to be creative in addressing the established problems and to be developed in a concrete manner. The last norm identified was ‘testing and revising in more iterative and feasible ways’. The students tested their models repeatedly in a manner aligning with their skills and the materials provided. Based on the findings, educational implications are discussed in terms of understanding and facilitating STEM problem-solving.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Research in Science Education
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-024-10222-0
Formation andInfluence ofEpistemic Norms inIntegrated
STEM Problem‑ Solving: aStudy ofSingapore Secondary
Students’ STEM Inquiry
JinaChang1 · TangWeeTeo1· AikLingTan1
Accepted: 27 November 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2025
Abstract
Guiding students’ STEM problem solving entails dynamic processes driven by changes
in real-world contexts. To understand these processes, we aimed to identify the formation
and influence of ‘norms’ as shared behaviour patterns desirable in STEM problem-
solving. To this end, 10 sessions of STEM lessons for secondary students were carried
out, and we collected data comprising lesson observation videos, fieldnotes, interviews,
and photographs of students’ artifacts. The data were analysed based on three features of
norms: justifiability, sharing, and behaviours. The results report three epistemic norms in
STEM problem-solving. First, the norm of ‘defining a real-world problem that is useful
and accessible’ was found. While the students searched for useful problems in their
everyday lives, they also needed to ensure that these problems were scoped such that they
had the capacity to manage them. The second norm was ‘designing creative and concrete
prototypes’. Students’ prototypes were expected to be creative in addressing the established
problems and to be developed in a concrete manner. The last norm identified was ‘testing
and revising in more iterative and feasible ways’. The students tested their models
repeatedly in a manner aligning with their skills and the materials provided. Based on the
findings, educational implications are discussed in terms of understanding and facilitating
STEM problem-solving.
Keywords STEM problem-solving· Epistemic norms· STEM inquiry· Sociocultural
perspective
Introduction
As an anchor of integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
practices, problem-solving aims to identify and solve authentic problems in real-world (Kel-
ley & Knowles, 2016; Moore etal., 2016). The authenticity and complexity of STEM prob-
lem-solving are important to pay attention to because of their critical roles in developing
* Jina Chang
jina.chang@nie.edu.sg
1 National Institute ofEducation, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 1 Nanyang Walk,
Singapore637616, Singapore
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