STEM TEACHING: PERCEPTION, CHALLENGES AND SELF EFFICACY AMONG IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

Abstract

STEM education plays a significant role in today’s accelerating century in diverse sectors. This study aims to investigate the perceptions, challenges, and self-efficacy of the in-service teachers in implementing STEM teaching with their students. A mixed-method research design referred to as an explanatory sequential design is used in this study. The questionnaires were directed to 22 in-service teachers in the Klang Valley and Johor who taught STEM subjects to their students. The quantitative findings show that 90.5% of the in- service teachers have the insight that STEM is interesting and hands-on, while 81.0% believe that it encourages creativity. The results further noted that 95.2% of teachers agreed that students enjoyed studying STEM, while 100% of them acknowledged that teachers play an important role in delivering STEM lessons to their students. A mean value of 4.14 revealed that the teachers were satisfied with carrying out the STEM teaching. The challenges faced by the teachers were reported qualitatively through open-ended interview questions, while the focus group interview was conducted to understand teachers’ self- efficacy in carrying out the STEM activities with their students. Thematic analysis by Braun & Clarke was adopted to identify the qualitative themes. It was noted that the teacher faced some challenges, such as space constraints, time constraints, technical challenges and environmental safety challenges. It was explained through the focus group interview that the teachers gained instructional confidence, technological confidence and collaborative confidence. This was supported by the quantitative data, which revealed that 90.5% of the in-service teachers' STEM teaching boosts their knowledge and confidence level, which leads to implementing STEM activities. In conclusion, STEM activities have a positive impact on the mindset of the teachers, notably because of the hands-on and interactive sessions with their students. The study, however, implied that more training sessions are required for STEM activities and lessons by the in-service teachers. Despite having data consistent with the findings, the small and localised sample size limits the generalizability.