Editorial: current perspectives on the value, teaching,learning, and assessment of design in STEM education

Abstract

Despite the value that design methodologies have as a vehicle for learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related subject matter, their integration into STEM curricula remains a burgeoning phenomenon. The role of designing and the field’s epistemological, ontological, axiological, and methodological foundations are still in the process of being shaped and refined by scholars in STEM-related fields. For instance, the knowledge base of designerly thinking and doing, though growing, is yet to be articulated in terms of “what” constitutes design knowledge, “how” it is constituted, “when” and “how” it is and can be acquired, and “why” it matters (Buckley et al., 2021). Furthermore, methodological frameworks for guiding, measuring, and evaluating designerly thinking, doing, and learning are in their developmental stages, indicating a need for empirical studies (Blom and Bogaers, 2020; Hartell and Buckley, 2021). The ontological perspectives of design—its nature, its purpose, and its role in learning and societal progress—are also subjects of ongoing discourse (Norström and Hallström, 2023). It is these challenges and opportunities that brought us to contribute to the maturation of these foundations, thereby cultivating a more robust understanding of design’s role in STEM education