Abstract
Oman Vision-2040 is a national strategic initiative that focuses on promoting inclusive education, lifelong learning, and scientific research—with the hope that these could lead to a knowledge society and more innovative educators that may improve the quality of education in Oman. The Omani government has made a considerable effort to make these national strategic goals a priority. This chapter first provides a brief historical overview of science teacher preparation in Oman, identifying significant developments in teacher education. It then presents an overview of the STEM Oman program that the Ministry of Education (MOE) is currently implementing to prepare teachers to deliver quality STEM education in schools. Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) is used as a case study to examine the development and implementation of an in-service science teacher STEM education training program for public schools. The authors describe how this STEM-based education program was developed and then discuss the alignment between the current teacher preparation program and STEM-based education in schools. Based on preliminary data from a research project currently underway at SQU, the chapter presents some figures to shed light on a pre-service science teacher preparation for STEM education in Oman. The results show that, overall, student science teachers believe themselves to be highly capable of teaching science using an engineering design process approach. After their micro teaching and practicum, BSc program student teachers had more positive perceptions of themselves regarding their ability to teach science through engineering design processes than trainee teachers with a Teacher Qualification Diploma (TQD). Finally, the requirements for improving STEM education and future strategies to overcome the challenges facing science teacher preparation programs in Oman are discussed.
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Shahat, M.A., Al Amri, M. (2023). Science Teacher Preparation in Oman: Strengths and Shortcomings Related to STEM Education. In: Al-Balushi, S.M., Martin-Hansen, L., Song, Y. (eds) Reforming Science Teacher Education Programs in the STEM Era. Palgrave Studies on Leadership and Learning in Teacher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27334-6_10
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