STEM beliefs and self-efficacy 2015 (provo peaks)

2003

$6.583 Billion

2004

$6.759 Billion

2005

$6.347 Billion

2006

$6.323 Billion

2007

$6.401 Billion

2008

$6.468 Billion

2009

$6.780 Billion

2010

$7.241 Billion

2011

$7.040 Billion

2012

$7.033 Billion

2013

$7.33 Billion

2014

$7.635 Billion

year OECD avg US avg ranking

2000 500 499 14/27

2003 500 491 19/29

2006 500 489 21/30

2009 501 502 17/34

2012 501 497 28/65

year OECD avg US avg ranking

2000 500 493 18/27

2003 500 483 24/29

2006 498 474 25/30

2009 496 487 25/34

2012 494 481 36/65

“Overall, the results show no measurable change in U.S. average scores in mathematics, science, or reading literacy between 2012 and any of the previous U.S. PISA results. U.S. 15-year-old students remained below the OECD average score in mathematics literacy and not measurably different from the OECD average in science and reading literacy.”

http://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/commissioner/remarks2013/12_03_2013.asp

570,000

136,000

40,000

Examining Elementary Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and

Beliefs for Teaching Engineering and Technology

Research Questions

What are elementary teachers’ beliefs about technology and engineering?

What does an elementary teacher’s self-efficacy for technology and engineering look like?

How are beliefs and self-efficacy affected through regular, year-long professional development?

Implementation Plan / Research Objectives

Implementation Objective: Deepen teacher knowledge of Engineering & Technology

Research Objective: Study teacher attitudes towards the towards the incorporation of Technology and Engineering into their teaching.

Methods

Student Demographics

Enrollment 613

Race/Ethnic Minority 50.89%

English Language Learners

19.58%

Low Socio-Economic 68.35%

Student with Disabilities 25.94%

Teacher Demographics

Grade Level Ave. Years Teaching CountKindergarten 6 3

First 9 2

Second 2 3

Third 4 2

Fourth 12 2

Fifth 18 3

Sixth 12 3

Special Ed 11 9

TOTAL 9.25 27

Professional Development

Engineering Technology / Computing

• Weekly 45 minute training sessions

• PD groups consisted of teachers from 2 grades

• Teach the teacher format (Emphasis on learning T & E concepts)

• Classroom implementation optional

School Accepted Design Process

Data Collection

Teacher SurveyAdministered a modified Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey

Study school (n=27)

Comparable school (n=25)

InterviewConducted 20-30 minute semi-structured interviews with volunteering teachers from the study school (n=12)

Teacher Survey — Scales

• STEM Teaching Self-Efficacy Scales

• STEM Teaching Belief Scales

• STEM Teaching Outcome Expectancy

• Frequency of technology use & instructional practices

• Attitudes toward 21st century learning

• Attitudes toward teacher leadership and their awareness of STEM careers

Teacher Survey — Item Samples

Technology Beliefs

Knowledge of coding can be helpful to improve most careers

My current students are going to need to know how to code to remain competitive by the time they are adults.

Technology Self-Efficacy

I can plan out the logic for a computer program even if I don't know the specific programming language

I can find applications for coding that are relevant for students.

Engineering Beliefs

It is important for my students to understand the engineering design process

Implementing engineering design problems adds value to my classroom

Engineering Self-Efficacy

I can integrate core standards into an engineering design problem

I can identify which step in the engineering design process I am in when problem solving

Methods of Analysis

Teacher SurveyAnalyzed the nature of the data through

descriptive statistics

Analysed statistical differences between Study school and Comparable school using the Two Sample t-test (equal variances) and the Welch Two Sample t-tests (unequal variances)

InterviewAnalyzed using a Grounded Theoretical

approach. (Charmaz, 2002 method)

Cross-comparative coding, establish agreement with a group of 5 researchers.

Identified Themes, sub-categories, properties, and dimensions

Quantitative Teacher Survey Results

Differences (p < 0.01)

• STEM Career Awareness

• Engineering Teaching Beliefs

• Engineering Teaching Competence

• Technology and Computational Thinking Beliefs

• Technology and Computational Thinking Competence

• Engineering days

• Technology days

Similarities• Elementary STEM Instruction

• Student Technology Use

• Science Teaching

• Science Teaching Outcome

• Mathematics Teaching

Qualitative Interview ResultsBeliefs can change!

Teachers are hopeful, but wary

Pre-planned materials provide reassurance (safety nets)

In the beginning…

At the beginning of the year I’m like, “ oh it’s one more training” (laughing) I mean I think, ya know, we all were kind of that way until you kind of see the application and how it really fit.

Special Ed. Teacher

In the beginning…

I wouldn’t even have thought of any engineering before … that seemed way out of my league before then.

6th grade teacher

In the beginning…

But then when they said we were actually going to get them to program I thought, “Oh right.” Cause programming is hard.6th grade teacher

3rd Grade Teacher A

Realization…

I had no idea there were so many and even just processes that we come up with, we’re engineering all the time but we just don’t realize it.

1st grade teacher

Realization…

once you start doing it, you’re like, “oh… I see how this can work…” .

3rd grade teacher B

Realization…

I’m not like mathematically minded or like thinking like engineering….” Or stuff like that, but when we’ve gotten involved I’m like, “Oh ok ya know, I can actually do this.”

Special Ed. B

Realization…

but after going through it, it was able to show me that I… that the kids can do it and it can be something super simple and it’s also showed me too that I can do it and I probably do it more often during my day than I really …realize I’m doing.

Special Ed. C

Beliefs about Technology and Engineering

I’m still not as comfortable in Scratch, but the kids sort of, they’re naturals and they just take the little bit you give them and …and run with it.

6th grade teacher

Beliefs about Technology and Engineering

“I’ve always wanted to do [STEM] but I feel like I have more of a grasp of how important it is. It’s not just a desire now, I feel like… because our world is changing so much I need to give these kids a different experience.”

Kindergarten Teacher A

Beliefs about Technology and Engineering

“[STEM]’s a building block that’s every bit as important as the ABC’s”

Kindergarten Teacher

Next Steps