Inservice STEM Teachers' Professional Development Programmes: A Systematic Literature Review (2018-2022)

Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 0742051X 2023 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved Review article Inservice STEM teachers professional development programmes A systematic literature review 20182022 Ence Surahman ab1 TzuHua Wang c1 a Department of International Intercollegiate PhD Program National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu Taiwan b Department of Educational Technology Faculty of Education State University of Malang Malang Indonesia c Department of Education and Learning Technology College of Education National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu Taiwan A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords STEM TPD STEM teachers Inservice TPD Professional development programmes STEM learning quality A B S T R A C T Research on inservice Science Technology Engineering and Math STEM Teacher Professional Development TPD has received attention in the last decade but has not produced conclusive findings This study aimed to examine the trends of STEM TPD programmes by applying several proposed frameworks The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses were employed to analyse 44 journal articles on in service STEM TPD programmes The results of this study revealed that constructivist theory was the most widely adopted learning theories Moreover workshop training and online TPD were the most frequently used learning models The research conclusion indicates that future STEM TPD requires more involvement of school principals in encouraging STEM teachers to develop their professionalism through the necessary inservice TPD programs 1 Introduction Science technology engineering and mathematics STEM educa tion is a crucial aspect of 21stcentury education Gao et al 2020 because of its advantages relative to conventional subjectbased learning approaches that were previously dominant Scholars have argued that STEM education is a solution for the crisis of unpreparedness that is affecting graduate students who are entering the workforce during the Fourth Industrial Revolution Caprile et al 2015 Marginson Tytler Freeman Roberts 2013 Numerous developed countries have pri oritised STEM education and provided considerable funding for STEM programmes However during their efforts to implement STEM pro grammes numerous countries have reported problems pertaining to the lack of STEM competence among teachers which can be attributed to the fact that most teachers have graduated from college with expertise in a single discipline Margot Kettler 2019 Teachers play a key role in the success of STEM learning because they help to realize the potential best practices for designbased teaching in the context of STEM learning Kolodner et al 2003 Schnittka Bell 2011 However the facts show that teachers are prepared to be profi cient in one field of teaching while they are studying at university and STEM education study programs have only developed in recent years Teachers who focused on a single discipline or subject area during their college education might not be adequately equipped to teach STEM They often find it difficult to design implement monitor and assess integrated subjectbased STEM learning Cavlazoglu Stuessy 2017 Margot Kettler 2019 To address the low competence of integrated STEM teachers through inservice STEM teacher professional develop ment TPD programmes such programmes must be designed in an in tegrated manner to increase the competence of STEM teachers Chai 2019 Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Lo 2021 Education poli cymakers must reflect on existing education models and consider methods for integrating learning in universities that administer teacher preparation programmes OECD 2015 Ralls et al 2020 An effective STEM TPD has several characteristics including a focus on teacher needs alignment with other reform initiatives highquality instruction active teacher involvement provision of sufficient time and various resources ongoing support collaborations and provision of local support DarlingHammond et al 2017 Lo 2021 Competence includes the mastery of STEM content and the management of STEMbased learning that is a teacher must adequately master STEM materials The ability to learn from planning implementation and reporting processes is also crucial for teachers Thus a teacher must be able to design curricula learning plans and learning strategies prepare Corresponding author Email address tzuhuawanggmailcom TH Wang 1 These authors share first authorship on this work Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage wwwelseviercomlocatetate httpsdoiorg101016jtate2023104326 Received 3 March 2023 Received in revised form 6 July 2023 Accepted 21 August 2023 Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 2 and develop media and learning aids monitor the course of learning comprehensively assess learning processes and outcomes and cultivate higherorder thinking skills which are related to analytical creative and innovative thinking skills A study on STEM TPD programmes revealed that the most common form of STEM TPD programme was workshops Chai 2019 Workshops vary in terms of format and include workshops without additional fea tures workshops with learning designs and workshops supported by learning designs developed with the help of professional communities Chai 2019 Ng Park 2021 In addition to workshops another TPD model is mentoring which emphasizes content knowledge pertaining to featured disciplines pedagogical content knowledge inquiry strategies collaborations and teacher renewal Ng Park 2021 Ufnar Shep herd 2019 The purpose of the present study was to investigate the trends cur riculum and assessment of STEM TPD over 20182022 and assess the quality of inservice STEM TPD programmes on the basis of the 10 guideline design principles proposed by Lo 2021 The research questions RQs explored in the present study are as follows 1 What are the research trends learning theories models strategies pedagogical frameworks activity designs assessment domains and formats of inservice STEM TPD over 20182022 2 How is the quality of inservice STEM TPD programs based on the 10 design principles of the STEM TPD framework and how are they different at each level of education 11 Concept of STEM TPD programmes STEM education is defined as the integration of educational concepts and applications with science technology engineering and mathe matics which are usually taught separately into one unit Corlu et al 2014 Weng et al 2022 STEM education emphasizes the application of knowledge to solve a contextual and reallife problems Sahin et al 2018 The STEM learning approach requires collaboration between subjects including teachers who may come from different fields STEM education encourages the development of critical creative and inno vative thinking through a multidisciplinary approach Kuo et al 2019 Weng et al 2022 STEM education is believed to be an effort to foster innovation as an effort to answer human global challenges Walker Sherman 2017 To realize STEM education an integrated curriculum is needed that is developed by proficient STEM teachers To equip capable STEM teachers a good TPD program is needed TPD is defined as the process of developing the knowledge attitudes skills and personality of a teacher to enable them fulfil their duties Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 PenaLopez 2009 Programmes to increase teacher expertise can comprise various activities such as training courses workshops undergraduate and graduate education and sharing sessions conducted among teachers and other individuals Such programmes must encourage changes in the mindset of teachers to allow them to grow professionally Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 In the context of STEM education TPD programmes are designed to help teachers to develop across multiple scientific fields and multiple disci plines in terms of content mastery and designing integrated STEM learning approaches Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Nadelson Seifert 2017 Shernoff et al 2017 Several empirical studies on STEM TPD have been reported for example STEM TPD programmes have been conducted as school and university collaborations Christian et al 2021 Moreira et al 2019 Ralls et al 2020 So et al 2021 workshops for STEM teachers Dai 2022 Gravel et al 2022 Mallik et al 2022 outreach activities Aslam et al 2018 and informal activities FernandezLimon et al 2018 Numerous empirical studies have explored STEM TPD however they had limitations pertaining to the current synthesis analysis of TPD approaches models and design activities including the object of the material being taught and the forms of assessment used in STEM TPD which are relevant to policy stakeholders 12 Summary of review studies Several review studies have been conducted on STEM TPD research in the last decade Chai 2019 Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Lo 2021 Yang Ball 2022a Chai 2019 reviewed 20 studies on STEM TPD programmes by applying the technological pedagogical content knowledge TPACK approach Their results revealed that content pedagogy and technology are the core properties of STEM TPD Chai 2019 also recommended six STEM TPD guidelines namely those related to context policies curriculum standards and period expertise resources access and available support content development clear connections between STEM subjects pedagogicalTPD theories model of teacher change community of practice CoP theories and teacher TPACK general technology communication platforms for facilitating TPD topicspecific technology for tasks and assessments data to be collected and assessed excluding data related to perception process product and performance Lo 2021 reviewed 48 empirical studies to identify a set of design principles for the development of integrated STEM TPD programmes Lo 2021 employed the model of effective TPD developed by DarlingHammond et al 2017 as a framework for con ducting analysis On the basis of their results Lo 2021 proposed 10 principles of STEM TPD column 3 Table 1 Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 reviewed 76 articles from the Social Sciences Citation Index SSCI which is accessible through the Web of Science WoS platform These articles were published between 2006 and 2020 and describe empirical studies on inservice and pre service K12 STEM teachers level Huang et al conducted their review using the TPACK framework as a guideline for analysing emerging Table 1 Combined framework for STEM TPD TPACK Koehler Mishra 2009 Six Design Guide of STEM TPD Chai 2019 Ten Design Principles of STEM TPD Program Lo 2021 1 Technology knowledge TK 2 Contextual 3 Connected foundation of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge across disciplines for STEM integration 4 Pedagogical knowledge PK 5 PedagogicalTPD theories 6 Exemplars of instructional materials and deliver model activitieslessons 7 Content knowledge CK 8 Content development 9 TPD time for teachers to develop their instructional materials 10 Technological pedagogical knowledge TPK 11 General technology 12 TPD time for teachers micro teaching 13 Technological content knowledge TPK 14 Topicspecific technology 15 Teachers inschool interdisciplinary collaboration for integrated STEM education 16 Pedagogical content knowledge PCK 17 Assessment 18 School leaders support integrated STEM education 19 Technological pedagogical content knowledge TPACK 20 21 Connect teachers to a community of practice that supports integrated STEM education 22 23 24 Understand the context and needs of teachers and provide relevant support 25 26 27 Teacher reflection on their understanding of STEM integration and teaching practice 28 29 30 Sustainability STEM TPD program across several years E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 3 findings Their findings revealed that the types of knowledge delivered through STEM TPD programmes comprised mostly pedagogical knowl edge and pedagogical content knowledge They also reported that most studies adopted a mixed TPD approach that featured activities such as learning by design learning by doing reflective learning and group work Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Yang and Ball 2022a reviewed STEM TPD programmes for inservice and preservice teachers who taught secondary school mathematics specifically they reviewed 14 studies by applying an inputprocessoutput model framework The results of their analysis indicated that the STEM knowledge and practice of teachers had rarely been assessed as an outcome of STEM teacher education programmes even though such knowledge and practice were explicitly treated as a goal of STEM teacher education programmes In addition a multidisciplinary approach that integrates unidisciplinary practices is mostly adopted for STEM integration Yang Ball 2022a The aforementioned review studies have analyzed the development and limitations of STEM TPD from various perspectives However after conducting a comprehensive analysis we identified several gaps Chai 2019 reviewed the research on integrated STEM TPD dated until 2018 Lo 2021 reported comprehensive findings on STEM TPD but only until July 2020 and they did not report on the STEM TPD for single subjects Huang 2022 only focused on practical examples of STEM TPD at the K12 level and examined research dated until 2020 however they did not obtain findings on the development of STEM TPD in the context of university teachers Yang and Ball 2022a Yang and Ball 2022a only focused on secondary mathematics teacher and research dated until April 2020 by reviewing 14 selected articles to identify goals and out comes scopes and integration approach features of STEM task design goals and supporting facilities for secondary mathematics teacher different from the research questions framework search keywords that we use in our review Moreover reports on inservice STEM TPD in 20212022 have not been explored so the present study aimed to fill this research gap by conducting a comprehensive review of the most recent research on TPD theories models strategies and design activities as well as the latest forms of STEM TPD assessments The present review attempts to analyse inservice STEM TPD reports in the last 5 years from different angles using multiple framework designs which is different from the previous reviews 13 Theoretical framework As a guideline for analysing and reviewing studies the TPACK framework proposed by Koehler and Mishra 2009 was used to syn thesise technological pedagogical and content knowledge including learning theories models and strategies related to the assessment of STEM TPD programmes This framework can be strengthened by the design guidelines formulated for STEM TPD by Chai 2019 which comprise guidelines related to context content development ped agogicalTPD theories general technology topicspecific technology and assessments However to measure the quality of the reported STEM TPD programme we used Los 2021 framework of 10 principles for designing STEM TPD programmes These 10 design principles are pre sented in column 3 Table 1 2 Methods The present study which is a systematic literature review was conducted according to the Psychological Association MetaAnalysis reporting standard Cumming et al 2012 and the Preferred Report ing Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses PRISMA guide lines Page et al 2021 The PRISMA guidelines provide a framework for identifying selecting describing and visualising the processes and results of standardised reviews and metaanalyses These guidelines have been widely adopted for research and they are regarded by re searchers as an adequate framework for conducting comprehensive systematic reviews and metaanalyses Therefore the present review was conducted in three stages namely the planning conducting and reporting of systematic review activities 21 Planning of the review The planning stage of the present review involved four stages Fig 1 namely the identification of relevant studies in databases on the basis of search terms the screening of identified studies the determi nation of eligibility on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria and the selection of studies according to the established criteria 211 Selection of articles 2111 Database search and search terms We reviewed 44 journal ar ticles published in the Web of Science WOS database between January 2018 and December 2022 We decided to select publications from this period to examine the latest findings and fill in the gaps from previous reports on inservice STEM TPD studies Moreover using different an gles and frameworks we hope to explore the novelty of the inservice STEM TPD programs that have been reported Six terms were used in the searches namely professional development professional learning teacher education inservice training teacher training and STEM education Moreover the Boolean operators OR and were used for the searches Code writing Boolean completely professional development OR professional learning OR teacher education OR in service training OR teacher training AND STEM Education The article searches from the determined database was conducted on January 16 2023 2112 Inclusion and exclusion criteria To select an adequate number of studies for inclusion in the review process we applied several criteria Table 2 Articles that met the following criteria were included in the present review a studies published between January 1 2018 and December 31 2022 b studies published in SSCIindexed scientific journals c studies published in English d studies that focused on in service STEM TPD programmes and e available in full text documents from our university access We excluded research eg reviews books proceedings short articles and journal editorial statements for which the full text was unavailable from our university access and studies that did not focus on inservice STEM TPD eg those involving only stu dents in university and those involving only students in schools 2113 Selection process We used the defined keywords to conduct searches on January 16 2023 and identified 482 results comprising studies from the Web of Science WOS n 482 databases Next we removed articles that were not published between January 1 2018 and December 31 2023 articles that were not published in English and articles that were not indexed in the SSCI Subsequently we read each selected article including its title abstract and methods section to ensure that all articles were reporting on inservice STEM TPD pro grammes this step resulted in the exclusion of 132 articles which are not reported in the context of inservice STEM TPD and only 44 articles were included in the subsequent review An increasing number of articles have been published every year since research on STEM TPD programmes was first published in the WOS database in 2006 The number of articles published peaked in 2021 with 71 articles being added to the WoS database in that year Fig 2a Journal articles were the type of research most frequently published in the WoS database followed by proceedings and book reviews Fig 2 b Being a country with numerous sources of funding for STEM edu cation the United States is the country with the highest number of studies published in the field of STEM TPD programmes Fig 2c In terms of WoS categories the research on education and various STEM subjects was a dominant field Fig 2d E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 4 22 Review process 221 Coding and categorisation To address RQ1 we tabulated data from the SSCI WoS database by year of publication type of publication country and category with the most research results related to inservice STEM TPD To address RQ2RQ6 we employed the TPACK framework proposed by Koehler and Mishra 2009 the six STEM TPD guidelines developed by Chai 2019 and Los 2021 10 design principles for effective STEM TPD programmes Table 1 Specifically we used a coding scheme comprising a context and an inservice STEM TPD programme The context included the reporting country of the study the areas of teaching involved in STEM TPD the duration of a program and the number of participants The information on inservice STEM TPD included learning theories and learning frameworks models and strategies activity Fig 1 Application of the PRISMA guidelines for identifying review studies on relevant inservice STEM TPD Table 2 Inclusion and exclusion criteria of this study Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria Published between January 1 2018 and December 31 2022 Published outside of January 1 2018 and December 31 2022 Published in Scopus and WoS indexed databases journals Books reviews proceedings short articles and journal editorial statements Written in English Not written in English Focused on the inservice STEM TPD Program Not focused on inservice STEM TPD context Available in full text Unavailable in full text E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 5 design assessment domains and formats used for STEM TPD Table 3 222 Synthesis and data analysis We applied thematic and subthematic approaches to data analysis for comprehensively testing our results Thematic analysis aims to identify emerging themes and subthemes and to facilitate the analysis and synthesis for each reviewed study Clarke Braun 2014 thereby enabling the results of a review to be presented systematically and logically In addition we used the conceptual framework of Leamy et al 2011 to synthesise our modified narrative Popay et al 2006 This framework comprise three stages namely 1 the development of a preliminary synthesis 2 the exploration of the relationship within and between the objects of a study and 3 the assessment of the strength of a synthesis We also performed qualitative data analysis by collecting compiling and interpreting unstructured data by using different the ories such as grounded theory Webb 1999 To synthesise each of the reviewed studies we used coding manually after perusing each article We identify whether the reported STEM TPD meets the design principles that we use as a framework for assessing them We gave a score of 1 for each study that complied with the 10 design principles of STEM TPD while the STEM TPD report that did not meet these criteria was given a score of 0 After all the studies were coded we calculated the total and the percentage After that we analyzed which STEM TPD design principles are more widely used and which design principles are not widely used in the development of STEM TPD After that we also distinguished them based on the level of edu cation of STEM TPD It aims to see the differences between each In the end we provided recommendations on what to pay attention to in the future development of STEM TPD inservice so that it is more in line with the existing 10 design principles of STEM TPD 23 Reporting of review We systematically reviewed the findings of studies on TPD in in service STEM programmes Under the PRISMA framework we con ducted a systematic review of reporting processes particularly the description of inclusion and exclusion criteria the process of disbursing and selecting data followed by the presentation of data and the syn thesis of study results The results section reports findings for each RQ these findings pertain to TPD theories models and strategies the design Fig 2 Trends for STEM TPD studies stratified by a number of annual publications b type of study c contribution of each country and d top 10 WoS database categories E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 6 of programme activities various domains and assessment formats and the design principles of STEM TPD programmes based on the frame works presented in Tables 1 and 3 The results of the present study can help the designers of inservice STEM programmes researchers and policymakers to plan implement supervise and evaluate a meaningful inservice STEM TPD programmes 3 Results In this section the results of a systematic mapping study are inter preted in accordance with the RQs of the present study RQ1RQ2 The included studies comprised research from 17 countries and most of these studies were conducted in the United States n 21 477 The other studies were conducted in countries such as the United Kingdom n 3 67 Australia n 3 67 China n 3 67 and Canada n 2 45 notably only a small percentage of the included studies were from Indonesia Hong Kong and other countries n 1 23 Fig 3a Several of the aforementioned countries particularly the United States have invested considerably into developing and imple menting STEM learning eg developing initiative programmes for the development of STEM teacher competencies To answer RQ1 and RQ2 we employed the TPACK framework Koehler Mishra 2009 the six STEM TPD guidelines of Chai 2019 and the 10 design principles of Lo 2021 The aforementioned research tools are described in Tables 1 and 3 31 Demographic information from included studies We mapped demographic information on the basis of four aspects namely the dominant country for a given demographic attribute the subject of study the time allocated for STEM TPD and the number of participants involved in a reported study In terms of the number of STEM TPD programmes implemented and reported by a country the United States ranked first with 21 studies 477 The United Kingdom Australia and China accounted for three studies each 68 and Canada accounted for two studies 45 The other countries eg Indonesia Hong Kong Austria Germany Thailand Mexico Sweden Spain Turkey the Netherlands and Ireland accounted for one study each Fig 3a In terms of subject matter almost half of the included studies n 21 50 examined STEM teacher development programmes that were conducted in an integrated manner for all subjects ie STEM and studies that focused on mathematics teachers were the second most common type of study n 9 205 STEM TPD studies that focused on science subjects and those that focused on physics and mathematics sciences subjects accounted for n 2 91 and n 2 91 of the included studies respectively The remaining studies focused on science subjects in combination with environment health and engineering related subjects Fig 3b In terms of the duration of the STEM TPD programmes most were completed within 1336 months n 14 and within 612 months n 13 Seven and six studies covered programmes that required 6 and 48 months to complete respectively Four studies did not specify the duration of the STEM TPD programme that they examined Fig 3c In terms of the number of participants involved most of the STEM TPD programmes involved a small number of participants 120 participants n 16 Eleven and seven studies examined programmes that involved 4160 and 2140 participants respectively Only one study pertained to a programme with 200 participants Fig 3d 32 Learning theories used in inservice STEM TPD programmes To map out the theoretical framework that numerous inservice STEM TPD researchers and developers have adopted we mapped each study and grouped the studies by level of theory relevance Our mapping results revealed that constructivism learning theory was the theory most widely adopted and reported by implementers of STEM TPD pro grammes n 20 455 this finding aligns with the principles of adult learning andragogy However other theories such as cognitivism n 10 227 humanism n 6 136 and behaviorism n 7 156 were also applied Fig 4a Furthermore our sequential mapping re sults revealed the adoption of several frameworks for STEM TPD pro grammes Specifically 10 studies 227 reported on the application of social learning frameworks nine studies 205 reported on the application of subjectbased frameworks math science and engineer ing nine studies 205 reported on the application of TPD frame works six studies 136 reported on the application of CoP frameworks and four studies 91 reported on the application of school university partnership frameworks In addition two studies 45 each reported on the application of flipped learning information processing and TPACK frameworks Fig 4b 33 Learning models and strategies used in inservice STEM TPD programmes To address the learning models and strategies that were widely adopted in STEM TPD programmes we mapped the learning models and strategies adopted by the included studies and grouped them by type of model and type of strategy Subsequently we analyzed the data to identify the mostly frequently reported models and strategies Fourteen Table 3 Coding schemes of the present review Categories Dimensions Coding Items Context Location Australia Austria Canada China Germany Hong Kong Indonesia Ireland Netherland Mexico Spain Sweden Thailand Turkey UK USA Subject Math Physics Science Science and Engineering Science and Health Science and Math STEM STEM and Environment STEM and Health STEM and NLT Duration of TPD program 06 months 612 months 1336 months more than 48 months not reported Number of participants 120 participants 2140 participants 4160 participants 61100 participants 101200 participants and 201500 participants Inservice STEM TPD programs Learning theories Behaviorism cognitivism constructivism humanism others STEM TPD frameworks Community of Practice COP flipped learning general TPD information processing school university partnership SUP social learning framework subject based oriented framework TPACK Model and strategy Course initiative project monitoring online platform outdoor and makerspace training video reflection workshop Activity designs Conceptual workshop design implementing and analysis design lesson plan design STEM contents FGD about STEM learning guiding students mentoring and connecting observation discussion and reflection online learning community practical workshop project monitoring reflection research activities research and design lesson testing a platform video analysis Assessed domains Analyzing skills authentic communication elements cognitive outcome collaborative skills leadership skills professional experiences reflection skills selfefficacy teachers perception Assessment forms Document analysis interview interview and observation multiplechoice test multi test methods observation questionnaire questionnaire and interview rating scale E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 7 Fig 3 STEM TPD studies stratified by a country b subject c time allocated and d number of participants based on 44 reviewed studies Fig 4 A Learning theories and b theoretical frameworks adopted for STEM TPD based on 44 reviewed studies E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 8 studies 318 reported on the use of shortterm workshops thus such workshops represented the dominant learning model and strategy used in inservice STEM TPD programmes The use of trainingbased STEM TPD was reported by 10 studies 227 TPD programmes that were implemented as governmentdeveloped initiative projects n 6 136 and online programmes n 6 136 were also frequently reported The remaining studies focused on the application of outdoor activities and makerspaces video reflection and monitoring Fig 5 34 Design of the learning activities of inservice STEM TPD programmes Activity design is a learning design or method for STEM TPD pro grammes In STEM TPD programmes the design of learning activities has produced widely varying results Program developers have designed numerous learning activities thereby enabling the implementation of a wide variety of learning activities in STEM TPD In STEM TPD the most widely implemented activity designs were focus group discussions FGDs about STEM learning n 7 159 research activities n 6 136 design implementation and analysis n 6 136 as well as conceptual workshops n 5 114 and partially designed lesson plans n 4 91 Mentoring and connecting programmes n 3 68 online learning communities n 2 45 reflections n 2 45 and video analyses n 2 45 also has been reported in several studies Fig 6 35 Assessed domains and assessment formats for inservice STEM TPD programmes Assessments are a key process in a STEM TPD programme Fig 7 presents information about the most assessed aspects of STEM TPD practice in the previous 5 years which included professional experi ences n 12 273 teacher perception n 6 136 selfefficacy n 6 136 reflection skill n 6 136 and skill analysis n 5 114 Leadership skills n 3 68 cognitive outcomes n 3 68 collaborative skills n 2 45 and authentic communication elements n 1 23 were also the focuses of assessments conducted in STEM TPD programmes 36 Quality of inservice STEM TPD programmes To assess the quality of the inservice STEM TPD programmes examined in the reviewed studies we applied the 10 principles proposed by Lo 2021 We reviewed each included study to verify whether it applied these 10 design principles A study that did so was assigned a value of 1 whereas a study that did not was assigned a value of 0 This step was performed to facilitate tabulation and the retrieval of per centage data pertaining to the conformity between a STEM TPD study and the 10 design principles Fig 9 The mapping of the 44 review studies revealed that for eight of the ten indicators the studies scored 80 average score 859 The studies only scored less than the average score for two indicators namely the sixth principle ie the role of schools in integrating STEM TPD programmes and tenth principle ie the sustainability of a STEM TPD programme This finding indicated that on average the studied STEM TPD programmes were consistent with the design principles of Lo however the role of school principals in STEM TPD programmes must be increased to develop sustainable STEM TPD programmes in the long term Fig 10 presents the number of STEM TPD programs by education level We identified 8 levels of education including preschool teachers primary school teachers middle school teachers primary and middle school teachers high school teachers mixed K1K12 school teachers university teachers and nonformal teachers STEM TPD at middle school teacher level was the most reported n 12 followed by pri mary school teacher level n 9 Meanwhile STEM TPD in the context of nonformal education is the lowest n 1 Table 4 presents information about the suitability of the 10 design principles for the development of STEM TPD programs based on educational level Of the 8 levels of education that we identified in general indicator number 6 regarding the involvement of school prin cipals in STEM integration was the lowest along with indicator number 10 regarding the sustainability of STEM TPD in the long term Other information several design principles in STEM TPD in mixed K1K12 are also not implemented optimally for example in indicators No 1 2 3 4 6 8 and 10 Likewise STEM TPD in nonformal education also does not report implementation of indicators No 4 5 6 and 10 4 Discussion This systematic review outlines 44 peerreviewed empirical studies on inservice STEM TPD programs published from 2018 to 2022 under the 2009 PRISMA guidelines Page et al 2021 It adds to the literature on inservice STEM TPD such as trends learning theories learning models and strategies activity design assessed domains and assessment formats used in STEM TPD programmes The findings of our review also contribute to knowledge about the quality of effective STEM TPD pro grams based on the 10 design principles proposed by Lo 2021 Furthermore the findings of our review also provide practical evidencebased directions and recommendations for further investiga tion in this area Fig 5 Learning models and strategies applied for STEM TPD based on 44 reviewed studies E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 9 Fig 6 Activity designs for STEM TPD based on 44 reviewed studies Fig 7 Most assessed aspects or domains in STEM TPD programmes based on 44 reviewed studies Fig 8 Most frequently used assessment formats in STEM TPD programmes based on 44 reviewed studies Fig 8 presents several of the most widely used assessment formats in STEM TPD programmes including questionnaires n 10 227 interviews n 9 205 questionnaires and interviews n 7 159 interviews and observations n 4 91 and document analyses n 4 91 In addition studies have used rating scales n 3 68 mul titest methods n 3 68 observations n 3 68 and multiplechoice tests n 1 23 E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 10 41 Trends and research status pertaining to inservice STEM TPD programmes In general the trends pertaining to inservice STEM TPD research in the previous 5 years have continued to develop and change with respect to the application of learning theories models and strategies methods and learning activity designs components and assessment formats Although studies were distributed in 17 countries United States generated the most studies on STEM TPD practices n 21 This finding can be attributed to the United States numerous initiative programmes Fig 9 Quality of STEM TPD programmes according to the 10 design principles of Lo 2021 Fig 10 STEM TPD programs based on educational level from 44 reviewed studies Table 4 The quality of 44 reviewed STEM TPD programs based on 10 design principles indicators Education Level of STEM TPD Programs Frequency of studies 10 Design Principles of STEM TPD Programmes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Preschool teachers 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 1 Primary school teachers 9 9 8 8 7 9 3 9 9 9 6 Middle school teachers 12 11 11 12 12 11 4 12 12 12 10 Primary and secondary school teachers 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 5 4 High school teachers 6 5 6 6 5 6 4 6 6 6 5 Mixed K1K12 school teachers 5 3 3 3 3 5 2 5 3 5 3 University teachers 4 4 3 3 3 4 1 4 4 4 4 Non formal teachers 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Remarks columns that are yellow indicate not meeting all the design principles of an effective STEM TPD E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 11 for supporting the development of STEM education Kelley et al 2020 Kier Johnson 2021 Love 2022 However the present review veri fied that STEM TPD has been adopted by countries across several con tinents for example Australia Stephenson et al 2022 America FernandezLimon et al 2018 Foote Knaub 2018 Goodnough 2018 Asia Chaipidech et al 2021 Chiu et al 2021 Dai 2022 X Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Europe DiegoMantecon et al 2021 Erdas Kartal et al 2018b Pelger 2021 Schueler RoeskenWinter 2018 It shows that efforts to improve the quality of STEM teachers have been recognized by all STEM education stake holders across continents Of course this is a positive trend so that the quality of STEM education will be equal in all countries This is in line with the target of all countries to prepare students who have 21st cen tury skills so that students can compete in the globalization era According to 44 review studies the majority of TPD STEM programs included science technology engineering and mathematics as part of STEM integration Aslam et al 2018 Chaipidech et al 2021 Ralls et al 2020 STEM integration can reach instructors with diverse backgrounds Involving crosssectoral facilitators more in the design of the TPD STEM learning process will make it easier for STEM teachers to discuss STEM learning designs that require curriculum integration from multiple disciplines STEM TPD which focuses on a single subject is typically conducted by a group of subject instructors in order to discuss and develop teaching skills on that subject The 44 included studies indicated a variety of time allocation in the implementation of the STEM TPD program most of the program dura tion was in the range of 1336 months as reported by several researchers Brand 2020 Chaipidech et al 2021 Erdas Kartal et al 2018b Falloon et al 2021 Hayward Laursen 2018 Taranto et al 2021 The choice of duration for program implementation is adjusted to the scope of material output targets and monitoring of program implementation In addition most TPD STEM are designed using several stages of activity on and off trainingworkshop The participants are usually invited to the initial workshop to provide material then they are given time to apply it in their respective classroom learning practices After that they will be reunited in the followup workshop activities as well as to report progress obstacles and field findings during practice in the STEM class they manage For the number of STEM TPD participants who were involved out of 44 included studies it was revealed that the majority were carried out with a small number of participants 120 as reported by several re searchers Brand 2020 Erdas Kartal et al 2018b Gravel et al 2022 Kim et al 2019 Russell et al 2022 Trout Fryxell et al 2022 Small number of participants relatively easy to manage both in class man agement and the effectiveness of the learning process compared to the context of a large number of participants In addition the relatively small number of participants allows for a more intimate indepth and ongoing program The large number of participants is usually only in the context of surface TPD STEM types for example communal training by providing STEM teachers general insight Taranto et al 2021 42 Learning theories pertaining to inservice STEM TPD programmes Based on the results of a review of 44 studies it was found that the most learning theories applied to develop STEM TPD programmes were constructivist theories Schueler RoeskenWinter 2018 Taranto et al 2021 This finding aligns with the concept of adult education andra gogy STEM teachers require recognition and selfdevelopment In STEM education FGDs peer sharing microteaching and video re flections are used in constructivist learning to encourage active knowl edge development In practice constructivist theory emphasizes the importance of collaboration between various parties to achieve common goals Thus collaborations among teachers university instructors teacher candidates graduate students and STEM researchers are crucial Kier Johnson 2021 Ralls et al 2020 So et al 2021 Collaboration between STEM educators STEM students with STEM instructors and researchers in universities can increase the full understanding of STEM concepts reflect student culture Kier Johnson 2021 develop pro fessionalism So et al 2021 science skills and improve the quality of STEM learning Ralls et al 2020 In addition it can be useful in increasing selfconfidence selfefficacy Hamilton et al 2021 per ceptions and beliefs of STEM teachers Christian et al 2021 It can further improve the skills of building a learning community Moreira et al 2019 development of STEM learning designs that meet various needs and standards Brand 2020 Kier Johnson 2021 Most of these forms of collaboration are in line with the most widely adopted theoretical framework in the findings of the 44 studies reviewed on inservice STEM TPD namely the social learning framework The social learning framework emphasizes the exchange of ideas and expe riences of STEM teachers in managing and solving problems in their STEM classes This process of sharing experiences and brainstorming is very useful for training STEM teachers in dealing with similar problems that have been experienced by other STEM teachers The social learning framework in STEM TPD is also related to the Community of Practice application namely a community of STEM teachers who provide input to each other in the development and management of STEM learning in their respective classes In addition subjectbased TPD frameworks are also found in several reports emphasizing the development of STEM TPD in one particular subject area usually managed by a community of STEM teachers on the same subject for example Math Physics Science and others All framework learning theories applied in STEM TPD pro grammes emphasize constructivist collaborative processes and expert assistance 43 Learning models and strategies for inservice STEM TPD programmes The results of the mapping review show that TPD STEM models and strategies vary however workshops and training were the most widely adopted learning models and strategies in STEM TPD programmes The variety of STEM TPD learning models and strategies is due to variations in problems in STEM learning that cannot only be solved through one particular learning model In addition variations of learning models and strategies in STEM TPD are also carried out to provide different learning experiences for STEM teachers However the most fundamental differ ence between learning models and strategies is related to the compe tency targets and domains of insight and skills to be taught For example the workshop model that is used to train about robotics Mallik et al 2022 integration of curriculum related to AI Dai 2022 as well as about commuting games Gravel et al 2022 The online training model in STEM TPD has been reported to increase the professionalism of lec turers regarding guidedinquirbased Price et al 2021 but can also reported to teach robotics to STEM teachers Kim et al 2019 as well as being reported to implement responsive teaching that meets student expectations Jaber et al 2022 In addition to workshops and training which have become the mainstream formats for STEM TPD programmes several new models and strategies have emerged such as the use of online technologies Hayward Laursen 2018 Price et al 2021 Schallert et al 2021 Stephenson et al 2022 videos Schueler RoeskenWinter 2018 massive open online courses MOOCs Taranto et al 2021 outdoor activities Aslam et al 2018 nonformal environment FernandezLimon et al 2018 and makerspaces Love 2022 In addition several researchers have reported labbased STEM TPD Gerde et al 2022 Love et al 2022 It aims to explore how safety training format influenced educator perception of safe behaviours in maker spaces and integrated STEM labs Because numerous STEM learning activities are conducted in labs implementing consistent operational processes for teachers and students is crucial 44 Design of learning activities for inservice STEM TPD programmes The results of the mapping of the 44 studies reviewed revealed that E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 12 the design of STEM TPD learning activities varied where FGDs were the learning activity design most frequently used in STEM TPD learning activities Brand 2020 Christian et al 2021 FernandezLimon et al 2018 FGDs are the most commonly employed because they allow in structors and teachers to become STEM TPD participants thereby enabling these individuals to discuss and analyse problems identify solutions practice interpretation skills Stephenson et al 2022 teacher leadership skills Gale et al 2020 share experiences Erdas Kartal et al 2018b provide input assess peer performance and create highquality learning designs Barnard et al 2020 Chai et al 2020 FGDs also provide opportunities for optimal peer reflection When conducted by an experienced instructor FGDs are a straightforward and highly effective activity design This finding is in line with the several previous reports that workshop and training learning models and stra tegies used by numerous practitioners Gravel et al 2022 Russell et al 2022 Several other learning activity designs reported in STEM TPD include research activities in the form of makerspaces in the STEM lab Love 2022 experiment and coding tasks So et al 2021 and medical entomology and geospatial analysis Trout Fryxell et al 2022 Furthermore design implementing and analysis in the form of compe tency models for STEM teachers Barnard et al 2020 actual teaching experience Chiu et al 2021 classroom projects DiegoMantecon et al 2021 and project development regarding elements of effective communication in STEM learning content Pelger 2021 Then con ceptual workshop activities regarding inservice STEM TPACK material Chaipidech et al 2021 principal STEM leaders Falloon et al 2021 and longterm TPD for novice teachers in the form of courses and modules Thomson et al 2020 Furthermore lesson plan design ac tivities namely the development of STEM learning plans using designbased learning Chai et al 2020 Next is mentoring and con necting through offering early teaching experience Foote Knaub 2018 and STEM teachers lead the undergraduate mentors Kier Johnson 2021 Another activity design form is the online learning community for faculty development and summer courses for STEM teachers which are carried out in summer workshops Macalalag et al 2020 Price et al 2021 The last is reflection using argumentbased strategies Anderson Quarderer McDermott 2020 and longterm professional learning Paige Hardy 2019 as well as the form of video analysis in the form of an analysis of the STEM learning process in the video recap and then discussing the advantages and disadvantages for the development of STEM learning for STEM teachers Coles 2019 Schueler RoeskenWinter 2018 Variations in the design of learning activities in STEM TPD show an increasing number of learning activity options that can be used to ach ieve the goals of the STEM TPD program SEM TPD implementers can adopt a form of learning activity design that is in accordance with the characteristics of the material and the objectives of the program Based on the results of our analysis various types of learning activity designs in STEM TPD were developed based on the needs of program participants In practice the designers and managers of the STEM TPD conduct a needs analysis of the TPD program on prospective teachers or based on an analysis of their own perceived needs Likewise the material taught in STEM TPD is more based on the ideas of program makers Gale et al 2020 Paige Hardy 2019 But for the journey they jointly discussed with potential participants to ask for more comprehensive input In the end both parties can make a meaningful contribution to each other in the implementation of a useful STEM TPD The factors that encourage STEM teachers to participate in STEM TPD are largely due to their own limitations in managing STEM classes They need sharing experiences on how to manage STEM classes well Biswas et al 2022 Foote Knaub 2018 X Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Russell et al 2022 Another factor is that some TPD STEM are implemented as part of a collaboration between schools and uni versities Christian et al 2021 Kier Johnson 2021 The experience of instructors in tertiary institutions is understood to be meaningful for developing the TPD of STEM teachers in schools 45 Assessed domains and assessment forms for inservice STEM TPD programmes Analysis of 44 studies has revealed that the assessed domains and assessment designs applied in TPD STEM learning vary In general the domain of professional experiences Thomson et al 2020 perceptions of STEM teachers Vossen et al 2021 selfefficacy Chai et al 2020 and reflection skills are the most frequently reported forms Anderson Quarderer McDermott 2020 After participating in TPD STEM teacher efficacy was reported to have increased in teaching practice Kelley et al 2020 Several STEM TPDs measure the selfefficacy of STEM teachers it aims to measure the selfefficacy of teachers through a training program it also aims to measure math teacher efficacy from the preservice phase to the early professional phase Thomson et al 2020 In addition STEM TPD also measures teacher communication skills in integrating STEM learning Pelger 2021 It aims to increase the problemsolving capacity of STEM teachers The communication skills of STEM teachers were also reported to be useful for attracting female students to STEM Stephenson et al 2022 In addition the continual TPD program is reported to be useful for promoting cognitive inquiry and mathematical identity for STEM teachers DiegoMantecon et al 2021 The variety of aspects and components assessed from a STEM TPD program indicates that the problems to be solved through STEM TPD are increasingly complex and recent reports have attempted to find answers In term of assessment forms the most adopted format was ques tionnaires Chiu et al 2021 Pelger 2021 followed by interviews Kier Johnson 2021 Paige Hardy 2019 observations Coles 2019 rating scales Schallert et al 2021 document analyses and multiplechoice tests Single assessments mixed assessments eg combination of interviews and observations questionnaires combined with observations and multiple assessments Biswas et al 2022 Dai 2022 Goodnough 2018 have been used by researchers and the tools that they used were adjusted to the type of data that they explored Each assessment format serves specific functions Questionnaires and in terviews are appropriate tools for measuring the selfefficacy motiva tion and resilience of STEM teachers However observation guidelines interviews and analytical documents are appropriate assessment tools when teaching teachers to identify and create highquality lesson plans analyse videos and evaluate learning colleagues Variations in the forms of grading in STEM TPD are useful for program designers to use forms of assessment that are in accordance with the objectives of the STEM TPD program itself 46 Quality of inservice STEM TPD programmes Using ten indicators as design principles for the development of STEM TPD programmes proposed by Lo 2021 toward the 44 reviewed studies revealed various findings All reviewed studies have complied with design principles No 7 and 9 namely the STEM TPD has been designed by connecting STEM teachers with the community of practice and encouraging the reflective practice of STEM teachers towards their understanding of STEM integration These two design principles have been adopted in all STEM TPG reports which show that the designers of the STEM TPD program have understood the urgency of community of practices as an effort to share experiences to overcome STEM learning problems Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Kelley et al 2022 Kim et al 2019 Macalalag et al 2020 Price et al 2021 In addition through reflective practice and FGDs STEM teachers can think about what the problems are and how to solve STEM learning problems in their class Anderson Quarderer McDermott 2020 Christian et al 2021 Erdas Kartal et al 2018b Gale et al 2020 Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Stephenson et al 2022 These two design principles are very important to drive a quality STEM TPD E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 13 The next design principle that has been widely adopted in the development of the STEM TPD is indicators No 5 and 8 namely the interdisciplinary collaborative approach of STEM teachers in schools and indicators regarding suitability to the context and needs of STEM teachers and the provision of relevant support Studies on collaborative practices between STEM education disciplines among STEM teachers have reported their effectiveness both in increasing understanding of STEM sharing STEM learning culture as well as for increasing self efficacy and skills in designing STEM learning concepts Kelley et al 2020 2022 Kier Johnson 2021 So et al 2021 In addition STEM TPD which is designed according to the context and the needs of STEM teachers encourages an increase in the effectiveness of STEM learning after STEM teachers take part in STEM TPD FernandezLimon et al 2018 Flemming et al 2020 These two principles design indicators must also be realized in the development of a quality STEM TPD With regard to indicators No 1 and 3 namely STEM TPD must be designed in accordance with content knowledge and pedagogical con tent knowledge and the TPD indicator time for teachers to develop their own instructional materials in general this has also been adopted by STEM TPD practitioners These two indicators are important because the STEM TPD cannot be separated from the TPACK framework Chaipidech et al 2021 Koehler Mishra 2009 Some researchers emphasize the use of TPACK in the design of the STEM TPD Chai et al 2020 Chai pidech et al 2021 Kajonmanee et al 2020 Likewise giving special time to STEM teachers to design their own STEM teaching materials and instructional designs has the impact of direct experience so that STEM teachers understand and are skilled in designing STEM learning media resources and tools that are appropriate to the subjects and problems in their STEM classes Macalalag et al 2020 Schallert et al 2021 Trout Fryxell et al 2022 With regard to the problem of STEM learning design 39 of the 44 reviewed articles have also revealed that STEM TPD participants need examples of instructional materials and STEM learning model activities that can be used as examples as comparison material for what they will develop Dai 2022 Gale et al 2020 Gravel et al 2022 Ralls et al 2020 Taranto et al 2021 In addition these findings also reveal that the quality of STEM TPD must provide special time for STEM teachers to do micro teaching DiegoMantecon et al 2021 Pelger 2021 Schallert et al 2021 Taranto et al 2021 Micro teaching has a valuable role in shaping understanding of classroom management in STEM teachers besides that it is also useful for practicing critical and reflective thinking in problem solving in STEM classes one of which uses the discover define model and modelling and transfer DDMT teaching model providing a scaffold for teachers to develop their competencybased and interdisciplinary STEMSTEAM teaching activ ities Wang et al 2019 Wang 2019 A STEM TPD process programme can adopt the simple but substantive DDMT teaching model which also adheres to STEM TPD programme design principles eg Chai 2019 Lo 2021 Regarding 10 design principles that we measured from 44 reviewed studies there are two indicators that need to be noted for STEM TPD developers and managers going forward the first relates to the principle of sustainability of STEM TPD in the long term the second is the problem of school principal strategies in integrating STEM in schools and encourage teachers to be active in the development of STEM learning Considering that several STEM TPD programs that were reported were only designed on a shortterm scale under a month Coles 2019 Gravel et al 2022 Huang SiuYung Jong et al 2022 Love et al 2022 So et al 2021 only a small portion of STEM TPD were designed sus tainably in a relatively long period of time more than 48 months DiegoMantecon et al 2021 Gale et al 2020 Goodnough 2018 Price et al 2021 Vossen et al 2021 A sustainable STEM TPD programme is difficult to implement scholars have reported that numerous STEM TPD programme initiatives have been discontinued Foote Knaub 2018 Therefore attention must be paid to performing targeted needs assess ments and ensuring coordinated support among governments univer sities and schools Furthermore the problem of teacher burden with respect to teaching and the need to adhere to a continuous TPD pro gramme must be solved however this task is challenging To overcome this problem it is necessary to consider the STEM TPD design which is effective but does not interfere with the teaching obli gations of STEM teachers Some researchers report that implementing STEM TPD is carried out during school breaks when students are off so teachers can fill their time effectively to take part in the STEM TPD program However another solution that has recently emerged is to use the online STEM TPD program which is held outside of class hours Teachers can continue to teach and take part in STEM TPD simulta neously it seems that this solution is quite reasonable but still the STEM TPD participants are not given too much workload so that it can inter fere with teaching obligations in their class Consequently a principals role in fostering the PD of teachers is crucial Therefore principals must recognise the importance of STEM education in their schools and attempt to create a school climate dominated by highquality STEM learning through the application of competent and constructive lead ership management Falloon et al 2021 Murphy 2022 Wu Huang 2023a Apart from school principals coordinators of STEM subject teachers are also important as role models in STEM TPD and STEM integration practices in their respective schools CohenNissan Kohen 2023 Hite Milbourne 2022 5 Conclusions and suggestions for future studies The number of studies on inservice STEM TPD programmes has continued to increase considerably in the last 5 years It shows that STEM TPD research and practice has developed positively In addition TPD STEM has been adopted by many countries on four different con tinents Likewise TPD STEM practices have been carried out at all levels of education starting from preschool to university level The construc tivist theory of pedagogical knowledge is the most widely adopted theory in such programmes because it corresponds with the principles of adult learning andragogy Workshops training project initiatives and online TPD have been explored by researchers FGDs about STEM learning research activities design implementation and analysis were the most widely used tools in STEM TPD studies Professional experi ences teacher perception skill analysis reflection skills and selfefficacy were the most frequently assessed dimensions Furthermore question naires interviews questionnaires and interviews and interviews and observations were the most frequently applied assessment formats The findings of the present review have a practical contribution to figure out the design implementation and assessment of STEM TPD programmes for inservice and preservice STEM teachers using variety of learning theories framework model and strategies design of learning activities as well as assessment designs Furthermore based on data analysis with 44 reviewed studies by applying ten design principles for effective STEM TPD programmes proposed by Lo 2021 we discovered that all reported STEM TPD programmes implemented in the previous 5 years achieved a high average score for all the examined indicators Notably the lowest score was obtained for the sixth indicator which pertained to the application of strategies by school leaders to integrate STEM in school This finding indicated that school leaders should focus more on STEM TPD programmes to help teachers to develop their pro fessionalism sustainably Principals must have high sensitivity and initiative to encourage STEM teachers to develop their STEM profes sionalism through various relevant STEM TPD programs It can have an impact on the integrity of school leadership in supporting and realizing the implementation of quality STEM learning through increasing the competence of STEM teachers The present research clarified TPD learning theories models and strategies methods and instructional designs and the domains and formats for assessing the suitability of each STEM TPD programme on the basis of the 10 principles of Lo 2021 However although the pre sent study attempted to cover all levels of education including K12 and universities its main focus was on inservice STEM TPD programmes E Surahman and TH Wang Teaching and Teacher Education 135 2023 104326 14 Future studies should examine preservice teachers to understand the curriculum designs that are prepared the learning theories that are widely used the learning models and strategies that are emphasised and the microteaching that is related to the design of STEM learning activ ities that must be emphasised In addition STEM TPD programs in the context of a postCOVID19 pandemic could also be explored in future studies Furthermore the use of digital technology can help STEM teachers to share and reflect on the quality of their learning in an online CoP and to construct knowledge through online platforms for leveraging the best practice of STEM TPD experiences these topics can be a future research direction for researchers Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper Data availability Data sharing is not applicable in this article because no new data was created 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