Primary School Teachers' Attitudes and Views toward STEM Education

Abstract

To produce ideas, products, and industries for the 21st-century scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians are needed. It is necessary to increase the number of people who provide technical support to the problems of individuals, set a standard for the lives of the people of the world, and manage global or national life with a sustainable decision-making mechanism. Raising these individuals can only be possible through education. Countries trying to make themselves technologically aware are looking for modern methods of teaching, one of which is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This research aimed to determine the attitude of primary school teachers toward the STEM approach and to find out their views on the STEM approach in the primary school curriculum. Students encounter the STEM approach while they are in primary school. However, all primary school teachers do not teach only science and math; they also teach other courses such as social sciences, language, ethics, music, and art. Therefore, teacher orientation toward the STEM approach in science and math courses is crucial. This research was concurrent mixed-method research that collected quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. The STEM attitude scale was used as a quantitative data collection tool and qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. The qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive and content analyses. The study's most important results showed no significant difference between STEM attitude scores regarding technology familiarity. Another significant result was that teachers who participated in quantitative and qualitative studies scored above average on the STEM attitude scale. The research results imply that pre-service primary school teachers should be given the STEM approach.