{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T04:39:23Z","timestamp":1777437563332,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,24]],"date-time":"2022-10-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1666569600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT\u2014Foundation for Science and Technology, I. P.","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/32422\/2017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/CED-EDG\/32422\/2017"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Mathematics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The implementation of an integrated approach of STEM education with real-life scenarios is crucial to motivate students to learn and to better prepare them for real-world challenges, which is a big challenge for teachers. Therefore, there are implications for teaching practice and consequently the need for professional development. This paper presents an integrated approach of STEM education developed in the context of a collaborative professional development programme implemented in an exclusive online context, provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The programme aimed at providing teachers with knowledge and skills to develop STEM integrated tasks to be implemented in class. This study used a quantitative\u2013qualitative approach to answer the research questions, using mixed methods to collect data. Participants are primary school teachers who participated in the programme during four months in the school year 2020\/2021. Based on data collected from questionnaires, participant observation and teachers\u2019 final reports, it was verified that teachers recognized the importance of obtaining training in STEM education and that this type of professional development was very relevant and improved their knowledge and skills to implement STEM hands-on practices in class. In addition, a case study of a science and mathematics 6th grade teacher is presented to illustrate how she implement integrated STEM tasks in class based on a real-world scenario such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, teachers recognized the importance of this approach and that it increases students\u2019 motivation to learn.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/math10213944","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,24]],"date-time":"2022-10-24T10:09:23Z","timestamp":1666606163000},"page":"3944","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Teacher Professional Development in STEM Education: An Integrated Approach with Real-World Scenarios in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3274-6056","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Cristina","family":"Costa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics and Physics, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Tomar, Estrada da Serra, 2300-313 Tomar, Portugal"},{"name":"Smart Cities Research Center (Ci2), AcademiaCAP, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Tomar, Campus de Tomar, 2300-313 Tomar, Portugal"},{"name":"CICS.NOVA\u2014Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5362-5691","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio Manuel Dias","family":"Domingos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CICS.NOVA\u2014Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Social Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"given":"V\u00edtor Duarte","family":"Teodoro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CICS.NOVA\u2014Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Social Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"CeiED, Institute of Education, Lus\u00f3fona University, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"given":"\u00c9lia Maria Rodrigues Guedes","family":"Vinhas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Agrupamento de Escolas de Pombal, 3100-484 Pombal, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122","DOI":"10.1177\/1478210318774190","article-title":"An analysis of Australian STEM education strategies","volume":"17","author":"Murphy","year":"2019","journal-title":"Policy Futures Educ."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s40594-020-00259-8","article-title":"Understanding coherence and integration in integrated STEM curriculum","volume":"8","author":"Roehrig","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. 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