Abstract
According to Sanders (2009), the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the 1990’s began to use the acronym SMET, as a “… shorthand, for ‘science, mathematics, engineering, and technology”’ (p. 20). SMET was perceived to sound too much like “smut” and STEM, became the acronym of choice. While this may explain the modern label, …interest in education involving the study of the STEM subjects began in the colonial era …” (Salinger & Zuga, 2009, p. 4). They further note that the U.S. federal government has offered continual support for career and technology education though legislation such as the Vocational Education Act of 1917.
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McComas, W.F. (2014). STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In: McComas, W.F. (eds) The Language of Science Education. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-497-0_92
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-497-0_92
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