Investigating the Views of Pre-Service Science Teachers on STEM Education Practices

Overview & Synopsis

It has given importance to the development of 21st century skills in every aspect of life. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education has played an important role to improve these skills and teachers are expected to be able to organize learning environments accordingly. The purpose of this research is to examine the pre-service science teachers' views on STEM education practices. The case study method was used in this research and participants of the research are 7 pre-service science teachers (4 female, 3 male). In the research STEM activities were applied during 8 weeks. The data of this research were collected through semi-structured interviews. The content analysis was used for data analysis and data were converted to the tables. During the interviews, it was noted that the pre-service science teachers wanted to apply STEM education when they become teachers; they wanted to get advanced knowledge about STEM education. In addition, pre-service science teachers have expressed their opinions on the basic rationale, benefits and limitations of STEM education, and have made proposals for the development and dissemination of STEM education. Pre-service science teachers learned about STEM education and how to implement it, by the help of STEM education practices that was conducted within the scope of this research. Pre-service teachers who are future teachers need to be informed and trained about STEM education.