Background
STEM education at the pre-college levels is gaining increased
international interest, with such learning considered
an integral component of a progressive twenty-first
century curriculum (Honey et al. 2014; Katehi et al.
2009; National Research Council 2014). Educating a
more scientifically literate community is one of the core
goals of STEM education (Shaughnessy 2013), yet this
goal takes a long time to develop and needs to begin
with the earliest grades if societies are to nurture the scientists
and engineers of the future (National Research
Council 2009).