The Effect of STEM Education Practices on the Awareness towards STEM Education and Opinions of Preservice Science Teachers

Year 2024, Volume: 18 Issue: 1, 1 - 30, 29.06.2024

Hüsnüye Durmaz , Hande Çelik Keser

https://doi.org/10.17522/balikesirnef.1402084

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effects of STEM education practices on preservice science teachers' (PSTs) awareness of STEM and STEM education and their views on the implementation process. The study was designed as a one-group pretest/posttest weak-experimental design including a case study. The participants were 30 PSTs enrolling in the Science Teaching Laboratory Applications I course in the 2018-2019 academic year and were determined by convenience sampling. In the study that lasted nine weeks, five STEM activities were practiced. STEM awareness open-ended questionnaire (STEM-A) was administered as pre and posttest, and the obtained data was evaluated with the thematic analysis. At the end of the instructional practices, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten volunteer participants and the data were analyzed with the content analysis method. According to the findings, it can be stated that the participants' awareness developed positively and they grasped the importance of interdisciplinary relationship and integrated structure of the STEM approach.

Keywords

preservice science teachers, STEM education, STEM awareness

STEM Eğitimi Uygulamalarının Fen Bilimleri Öğretmen Adaylarının STEM Eğitimine Yönelik Farkındalıklarına ve Görüşlerine Etkisi

Abstract

Araştırmanın amacı STEM eğitimi uygulamalarının fen bilgisi öğretmen adaylarının STEM ve STEM eğitimi konusundaki farkındalıklarına etkisini ve uygulama sürecine ilişkin görüşlerini incelemektir. Araştırma tek gruplu öntest/sontest zayıf deneysel desende tasarlanmış olup durum çalışması dahil edilmiştir. Çalışma grubunu 2018-2019 eğitim-öğretim yılında Fen Öğretimi Laboratuvar Uygulamaları I dersine katılan 30 öğretmen adayı oluşturmuştur. Katılımcılar uygun örneklem seçimi ve gönüllülük esasına göre belirlenmiştir. Çalışma dokuz hafta süresince yürütülmüş ve beş STEM etkinliği gerçekleştirilmiştir. Nitel veri toplama araçları olarak STEM farkındalık açık uçlu anketi (STEM-A) ön ve sontest olarak kullanılmış ve elde edilen veriler tematik analiz ile değerlendirilmiştir. Öğretimsel uygulamaların sonunda da on gönüllü katılımcı ile yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılmış ve elde edilen verilerin analizinde içerik analizi uygulanmıştır. Bulgulara göre, katılımcıların farkındalıklarının olumlu yönde geliştiği ve STEM yaklaşımının disiplinler arası ilişkinin ve bütünleşik yapısının önemini anladıkları ifade edilebilir.

Keywords

Fen bilgisi öğretmen adayı, STEM eğitimi, STEM farkındalığı

Ethical Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical rules. Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study on a voluntary basis. An ethics committee report was not required in studies before 2020. The study was approved with the decision number 2 taken at the meeting numbered 34 and dated 17.09.2018 of the Trakya University Institute of Science board of directors. The data of the study was collected in the first semester of the 2018-2019 academic year.

Thanks

The authors thank the preservice science teachers for participating in the study and Prof. Dr. Eylem BAYIR for providing expert opinion and feedback during the thesis study.

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