Measuring teachers’ perceptions about STEM: Development of a STEM teacher perceptions questionnaire

Abstract

Students often exhibit minimal interest in STEM careers, despite the belief that STEM education enhances national competitiveness. To address this gap, educators must adopt innovative approaches in STEM curricula. This research aims to develop an implicit self-discrepancy measure and gather insights from STEM teachers. A pre-test, the "STEM Teacher Perceptions Questionnaire," was administered to 100 STEM educators, confirming its reliability and validity for factor analysis. The analysis revealed two distinct factors, leading to the creation of a 39-item, two-dimensional questionnaire. Using PLS-SEM, responses from 202 STEM teachers across elementary to high school were analyzed. The study produced a reliable tool for assessing teachers' perspectives on STEM education, with an explanatory power of 58.2%. It highlights that the "ought self" directly influences the "actual self," with the "ideal self" acting as an intermediary. Findings suggest that enhancing teachers' content knowledge can boost their self-esteem and confidence in teaching STEM subjects. Ultimately, this research underscores the utility of self-discrepancy theory in understanding STEM educators' perspectives, potentially encouraging more teachers to pursue careers in STEM by fostering awareness of their competencies and motivating them to engage in related courses.