An Evaluation of Middle School Teachers' Thoughts on STEM Education

Abstract

This study evaluated STEM education from the perspective of science, mathematics, and computer science teachers. The opinions of experienced STEM teachers were obtained and the results were analyzed in three subcategories. Phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used for the study. The data for the study were collected from four different public middle schools in Izmir, Turkey, during the 2018-2019 school year. The qualitative data of the study was collected through a semi-structured interview with twelve middle school teachers. The professional experience of the teachers participating in the study ranged from 4 to 37 years. In addition, 6 of the teachers were female. To ensure data diversity in the study, teachers' views on STEM were collected through a 13-item questionnaire. The STEM-TSAS questionnaire used for the study had three sub-factors (teachers, school administrators and students in STEM education). The interviews with teachers revealed that STEM contributes to the development of 21st century skills in both students and teachers. In addition, many teachers indicated that school administrators were unable to provide the materials needed in the implementation of STEM education.