Minneapolis, MN
August 23, 2022
June 26, 2022
June 29, 2022
15
10.18260/1-2--41231
https://peer.asee.org/41231
447
Dr. Rebekah Hammack is an Assistant Professor of K-8 Science Education at Montana State University. She holds a bachelors in animal science from the Ohio State University, a masters in animal science from Oklahoma State University, and a doctorate in science education form Oklahoma State University. Prior to beginning her faculty position at MSU, she completed an Albert Einstein Fellowship within the Directorate of Education and Human Resources at the National Science Foundation and spent 12 years teaching science and engineering in rural and small town settings at the K-8 level. She is also a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Dr. Hammack researches science and engineering teacher efficacy and student engineering identity development at the K-8 level.
With the introduction of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013) nearly a decade ago, engineering implementation in the K-12 setting has become significantly important to embed within existing curriculum and teaching practices. As efforts to prepare engineering knowledgeable teachers progress, there is a need for support in providing effective engineering concentrated instructions for preservice teachers. Such an attempt may eventually boost preservice teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching engineering practices. While some educational efforts have been made to support teachers, there is a lack of research on how to support effective engineering instruction in preservice elementary education. According to Gibson and Dembo (1984), the teaching efficacy represents a teacher's conviction that, despite external difficulties, any teacher can generate positive student learning results. Empirical studies suggest that teachers' beliefs have been demonstrated to influence their pupils' beliefs and academic achievements. Further, studies suggest that teachers who have higher self-efficacy should, in theory, be more self-confident and successful teaching. Additionally, recent studies suggest that exposing students at an early age to engineering practices may maintain their interests in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The main purpose of this study is to explore which factors influence preservice elementary teachers’ teaching engineering efficacy. A convenience sampling technique was used to collect data from 144 preservice teachers (88% female, 12% male) enrolled in an elementary education bachelor’s degree program at a public university in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. The 15-week-long course was offered in three different modalities: face-to-face, hybrid, and online. Participants were given an empirically validated (i.e., T-STEM) pre- and post-survey at the start and end of the semester in which they were enrolled in a K-8 science teaching methods course. The participants completed these instruments in a voluntarily based order with an estimated time of 20–25 minutes to finish the survey. Two‐tailed paired sample t-test computed from the mean scores for each of the pre- and post-survey indicated the statistical significance of gains from pre‐ to post‐instruction scores. The findings suggest that engaging in multiple, varied engineering components during a science methods course can boost preservice teachers’ engineering teaching efficacy across multiple course modalities.
Hammack, R., & Yeter, I. H. (2022, August), Exploring pre-service elementary teachers’ engineering teaching efficacy beliefs: A confirmatory analysis study (fundamental) Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41231
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