candidate over their six years probationaryperiod historically have applied somewhat different standards of achievement depending onwhich of the two broad categories of institutions the program resides in. The Tier I researchinstitution will usually look to see that an individual has been able to generate sufficient externalfunding to support part of their salary (sufficient to reduce their base teaching load), and tosupport the salaries of several PhD and Master’s students, along with perhaps acquiringequipment to outfit a research laboratory. The individual must also produce some minimumnumber of journal and conference papers in readily recognizable quality venues sufficient toproject an image of rising authority in their chosen field. Some
the first to do so. The specific implementation forms include: offering dedicated STEM courses, club-based teaching, focusing on science and technology competitions, project-based courses, open laboratory space-oriented, and diversified comprehensive courses[22]. From the gradually “captivating” development of theory and practice, we cannot help but raise the following question: under the unique institutional context in China, what exactly are the core connotations and the primary form represented by STEM education? What factors make it up? What is the relationship between these factors? Answering these questions has important implications for the in-depth promotion of STEM education in China and