Increasing high school teachers self-efficacy for integrated STEM instruction through a collaborative community of practice

Background Teachers can have a significant impact on student interest and learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects and careers. Teacher self-efficacy can also significantly affect student learning. Researchers investigated the effects of teacher professional development and integrated STEM curriculum development on teacher self-efficacy. Participants in the study included high school science and engineering technology teachers enrolled in a National Science Foundation-ITEST project called Teachers and Researchers Advancing Integrated Lessons in STEM (TRAILS). The TRAILS program sought to prepare teachers to integrate STEM content using engineering design, biomimicry, science inquiry, and 3D printing as pedagogical approaches. Teachers learned within a community of practice working alongside industry partners and college faculty. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the 70 h of professional development to train three cohorts of teachers over 3 years on teacher self-efficacy. The research design utilized a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group approach, including an experimental group and an untreated control group. Results Measurements on beliefs about teacher self-efficacy were collected on pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest survey assessments. Researchers analyzed the T-STEM survey results for teaching self-efficacy using the Wilcoxson signed-rank test for detecting significant differences. Science teachers showed a significant increase in teacher self-efficacy comparing the pretest and delayed posttest scores after TRAILS professional development and STEM lesson implementation (p = .001, effect size = .95). Additionally, significant differences between groups (science experimental vs science control group teachers) using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test were detected from pretest to posttest (p = .033, effect size = .46), posttest to delayed posttest (p = .029, effect size = .47), and pretest to delayed posttest (p = .005, effect size = .64). There were no significant differences detected in the control group. Engineering technology teachers showed no significant differences between the pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest self-efficacy scores. Conclusions The results indicate the science teachers' self-efficacy increased after professional development and after lesson implementation. Potential implications from this research suggest that the science teacher participants benefited greatly from learning within a community of practice, engaging in science practices, and using science knowledge to solve a real-world problem (engineering design).