Impact of Early STEM Professional Training on Pre-Service Teachers’ STEM Understanding and Teaching Self-Efficacy

• In Event: Evidence-Based Practice for Early STEM Teaching and Learning: Diverse Adult Roles and Contexts

Abstract

Introducing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in early childhood plays a critical role in later STEM learning and career trajectory (MacDonald et al., 2024). However, insufficient professional training (PT) and low self-efficacy among early childhood education (ECE) pre-service teachers often hinders high-quality early STEM education (Lange et al., 2022). Thus, this research aims to investigate changes in ECE pre-service teachers’ conceptualization of STEM following a 4-week Early STEM PT, and to determine the impact of these changes on their teaching self-efficacy. The research questions are as follows: 1) What are ECE pre-service teachers’ initial self-efficacy levels for teaching STEM, and how do they change after Early STEM PT? 2) How do changes in self-efficacy after Early STEM PT differ by overall self-efficacy levels (low vs. high)? 3) How are pre-service teachers’ definitions of STEM related to their teaching self-efficacy?
The current pilot study employed a mixed-methods design. Sixteen ECE pre-service teachers gave their consent and completed a 19-item self-efficacy inventory (Cronbach’s alpha= 0.896) before and after the 4-week Early STEM PT module in the required curriculum class. Items were rated on a 0-100 scale and indexed two domains: Early STEM Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (Yang et al., 2021). The survey also included open-ended questions asking participants to define “STEM” for young children and to explain the reasons for any perceived self-efficacy in teaching STEM for young children.
As shown in Table 1, there are significant gains in overall self-efficacy (pre M = 76.70 to post M = 85.16; t(15) = 2.98, p = .009, d = 0.74) and pedagogical self-efficacy (pre M = 80.70 to post M = 88.19; t(15) = 2.96, p = .010, d = 0.74), whereas the increase in content self-efficacy (pre M = 65.31 to post M = 73.13; t(15) = 1.44, p = .171, d = 0.36) was not statistically significant.
Further, participants were divided into low- and high-baseline SE groups based on whether their initial overall SE fell below or above the sample mean. As shown in Table 2, in the low-SE group, significant increases were observed for overall SE (MΔ = 13.32, t(8) = 3.07, p = .015, d = 1.02) and pedagogical SE (MΔ = 12.28, t(8) = 3.59, p = .007, d = 1.12). No significant changes emerged for content SE in either group, nor for any domain in the high-SE group.
Pre-service teachers’ definitions of STEM are closely related to their teaching self-efficacy. The persistently low-SE group defined STEM as abstract or prestigious and experienced difficulties applying theory to practice. The increased-SE group redefined STEM in accessible terms (Reframing STEM through accessible definition) and gained confidence in practical classroom implementation (Bridging theory and practice; see Table 3).
The Early STEM PT module yielded significant gains in overall and pedagogical self-efficacy (d > .70), especially among participants with initially low confidence (d > 1.0). Content self-efficacy improved descriptively but not significantly. Qualitative findings suggest that redefining STEM more accessibly and providing practical classroom strategies may further foster ECE pre-service teachers’ STEM self-efficacy.

Authors

• Keting Chen, California State University - San Bernardino

• Hyeungok Kang, California State University - San Bernardino

• Lisa Looney, California State University - San Bernardino

• Cade Parker, California State University- San Bernardino

• Angie Arriaga Cazares, California State University - San Bernardino