The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perception on the
STEAM program developed for gifted classes in primary schools. The teachers,
who participated as researchers in the development and application of the
program, were surveyed, and some of them were interviewed and analyzed. At
the beginning of the program development, the teachers had a limited and
insufficient knowledge about the educational background of STEAM. They even
sometimes felt confused about some topics. In the stage of the program
development, the teachers reported difficulties in both finding theme and
subject-matter for the program unit and general understanding about STEAM.
In the stage of the program application, the teachers thought this opportunity
was quite helpful for themselves because they were trained to think
integratively and also good for their students because they could tell their
students about various fields. At the same time, they said that the preparation
for classes would be hard and the basic education of science might not be firm,
which were pointed as shortcomings. For students, the STEAM program could
expand their depth of thinking and enlarge their creativities and interests, but
students might have difficulties for adjusting themselves to the program where
they themselves have to think about and plan the class activities. Moreover,
when students are not interested in various activities, their participation will be
limited, which was pointed as another weak point. They suggested that more
systematic and meaningful theme and subject-matter should be discovered,
teachers with a specialty in STEAM education should be raised, and financial
support and facilities should be offered actively.