STEM Education: Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge, Attitude, Practice Intention, and Possible Challenges

Abstract

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education has been acknowledged that it could prepare students for the twenty-first-century workforce. Thus, pre-service teachers on the verge of entering the educational milieu are actively urged to incorporate it into their upcoming pedagogical classroom. Pre-service teachers’ prospective classroom practice apropos of STEM education can be determined by their knowledge, attitude, practice intentions, and the challenges they will face. This study therefore investigates these four dimensions among Cambodian pre-service teachers. The study also sought to examine the affiliation among three earlier dimensions. A survey was conducted to gather data from 82 pre-service teachers in their second year of the teacher education program at Teacher Education College in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The survey consisted of both close-ended and open-ended questions. The result revealed that pre-service teachers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice intention toward STEM education were at medium and slightly above the medium levels. The study also revealed a positive correlation among these triple dimensions. On top of that, pre-service teachers reported the possible challenges including internal challenges, external challenges, and student-related challenges when integrating STEM education in their prospective classroom. The study would offer insight into how to boost the levels of pre-service teachers’ practice intention, possibly resulting in the integration of STEM education into their forthcoming classrooms.