Increasing high school teachers self-efficacy for integrated STEM instruction through a collaborative community of practice
Overview
Paper Summary
Science teachers' self-efficacy significantly increased after participating in a professional development program focused on integrated STEM instruction, particularly after implementing the learned concepts in their classrooms. However, engineering technology teachers did not experience a similar boost, potentially due to pre-existing high confidence levels.
Explain Like I'm Five
Scientists found that when science teachers learned new ways to teach science, technology, and math together, they felt much better at it! But engineering teachers were already super confident, so they didn't get an extra boost.
Possible Conflicts of Interest
The study acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF, award #DRL-1513248) but clarifies that the findings do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. No other conflicts were identified.
Identified Limitations
Rating Explanation
This study presents interesting findings on the impact of an integrated STEM professional development program on teacher self-efficacy. The Wilcoxon tests reveal significant improvement for science teachers, particularly after implementing their lessons. However, the significant methodological limitations, such as the small sample size, self-selection bias in the control group, reliance on self-reported data, and limited geographical scope, constrain the strength and generalizability of the findings, thus justifying an average rating of 3.
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