The Effect of Methods Course on Pre-Service Teachers’ Awareness and Intentions of Teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Subjects

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of participating in a STEM methods course on pre-service teachers’ awareness of and intentions to teach STEM subjects.  Quantitative analysis was conducted of data gathered from 53 (41 female and 12 male) preservice science teachers from a teacher preparation program in a university in a small western city of Turkey.  Data from STEM awareness and STEM teaching intention questionnaires were collected before, immediately after and four months after participants attended a STEM-based science methods course.  Data were analyzed via a mixed between-within subjects’ analysis of variance.  Results indicated that course participation can help modify the awareness of preservice science teachers. Specifically, preservice teachers’ STEM awareness and intentions of teaching STEM subjects tended to increase after attending the methods course, showing statistically significant, large effects in teacher awareness and intentions of teaching STEM subjects after attending the course.