Self-efficacy and STEM: An Integrated Pedagogical Approach for Pre-service Elementary Teachers

Abstract

Teacher preparation for elementary education often separates pedagogical approaches by content. This study examines an integrative pedagogical approach in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) with elementary education majors. The preservice teachers were provided experiences to learn about pedagogical approaches for STEM integration and to design and implement interdisciplinary units with robotics in classroom settings as a part of a combined math and science pedagogy course. A modified version of the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI-B) survey was used as a pre-and postassessment to determine if changes occurred in the preservice teacher's self-efficacy and outcome expectancy with elementary students as a result of this approach. Findings between pre-and post-assessments show increased means for both subscales: Personal STEM Teaching Efficacy (PSTE) and STEM Teaching Outcome Expectancy (STOE). Qualitative responses also indicate the beliefs and outcomes in STEM teaching were positively impacted. These findings indicate that a combined science-mathematics pedagogical approach that includes the development of units and teaching the units in authentic classrooms leads to more confidence in STEM teaching. The approach utilized in this study may serve as a model for other teacher preparation programs.

Examining pre‐service elementary educators' perceptions of teaching science when integrated with poetry

“…This may indicate that the previous experiences they had with poetry and science integration were not as in‐depth as the integrative unit taught among the faculty members in this study. This finding corroborates the impact of collaboratively modeling high‐quality integrative poetry and science teaching and learning experiences for PSTs (Baldwin, 2014; Bergeson & Beschorner, 2020; Boice et al, 2021; Fenton & Essler‐Petty, 2019; Hechter, 2011; Vardell & Wong, 2014, 2019). Since the PSTs had not yet participated in an intensive teaching internship and had limited teaching experience, they may have also had low SE about their teaching abilities in general (Cantrell et al, 2003).…”

“…Bleicher (2004) reexamined the reliability and validity of the STEBI‐B and found the basic integrity of the SE and EO scales were upheld through his analyses. Other researchers have also found the STEBI‐B to have strong reliability (Fenton & Essler‐Petty, 2019; Plourde, 2002; Utley et al, 2005) and validity (Chan & Lay, 2018; Yesilyurt et al, 2021) measures when used with PSTs. The STEBI has been widely used in science education and slightly modified for recent studies with an interdisciplinary focus encompassing STEAM topics (Love, 2017a, 2017b, 2022; Love et al, 2023; Nadelson et al, 2012; Yesilyurt et al, 2021; Yoon & Kim, 2017).…”

“…Many factors associated with PSTs' SE and EO toward teaching STEM topics have been documented in the literature. Science content knowledge and level of preparation to teach science have been linked to teachers' efficacy (Fenton & Essler‐Petty, 2019; Nadelson et al, 2012). For example, Menon and Sadler (2016) found a moderate positive correlation between elementary PSTs' gains in SE and science (specifically physics) content knowledge.…”

“…More specifically, Baldwin (2014) described how numerous studies over the past two decades have found science teaching methods courses to have a positive influence on elementary PSTs' SE toward teaching science. From an interdisciplinary perspective, Fenton and Essler‐Petty (2019) found that a combined elementary math and science teaching methods course (co‐taught by math and science education faculty members) resulted in increased SE, EO, and confidence to teach STEM lessons among elementary PSTs. Beyond teaching methods courses, research has also found that the successful completion of a teaching internship experience can increase PSTs' EO toward teaching science (Cantrell et al, 2003).…”

“…Rutherford et al (2017) found a strong positive relationship between a teacher's confidence in teaching STEM curriculum, and students' STEM knowledge achievement. Given many elementary educators' reluctance to teach STEM topics in‐depth (especially science concepts) due to a variety of reasons such as limited experience developing interdisciplinary STEM lessons and preparation to teach such lessons (Fenton & Essler‐Petty, 2019; Fulp, 2002; Smith, 2020), the integration of the arts and STEM instruction can pose additional challenges for elementary educators (Boice et al, 2021). Despite these challenges, it is evident that educators have implemented a variety of innovative interdisciplinary teaching practices to integrate more STEAM instruction (Boakes, 2020; Brown, 2015; Daugherty, 2013; Gess, 2017).…”