Teachers As Instructional Designers: Growing Educators' Self-Efficacy Through Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) Professional Development at the Elementary-, Middle-, and High-School Levels
Abstract: Twenty-one elementary-, middle-, and high-school teachers (as a cohort) participated in a STEM professional development (PD) program that focused on supporting teachers as instructional designers of STEM curriculum for their students over the course of one academic school year. The primary objective of the PD program was to determine changes in teachers’ levels of self-efficacy before and after they designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated their STEM curriculum, including units of instruction, focus lessons, and the creation or gathering of essential materials and supplies. The STEM Teacher Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, used to measure teachers’ beliefs that they can successfully carry out STEM instruction, was developed through analyzing and adapting components of several existing surveys. Content and construct validity were established prior to the administration of the questionnaire. Findings revealed that there was a positive shift in teachers’ self-efficacy from the pre-administration to the post-administration of the questionnaire. It was concluded that teachers do develop STEM self-efficacy over time with PD and cohort support. It was recommended that this PD model be implemented for a longer period of time with a larger teacher cohort to continually improve STEM teaching and learning.