STEM Awareness among Pre-service Teachers
Prawnya V,Dr.P.S. Kapilas 2, Rajasekaran P2, Narmada Devi G2,Josly Jose2 , Dr.P.S. Sreedevi3

1Research Scholar, Department of Education
2Guest Lecturer, Department of Education
2Research Scholar, Department of Education
2Research Scholar, Department of Education
3Professor & Head, Department of Education
The Gandhigram rural institute-Deemed to be university, Gandhigram, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It is an educational approach that gives prominence for integrating these four disciplines to nurture student motivation, achievement, and equipping learners with the future focused skills. STEM education seeks to prepare students to think systematically, solve complex problems, transfer knowledge across different contexts, and succeed in an ever changing, technology driven world. It also focuses collaborative learning, across structured and unstructured environments that encourages comprehensive perspective by integrating scientific concepts with real world applications. (Hebebci, 2023). To effectively leverage the potential of STEM in education, it is important to determine the level of STEM awareness among pre service teachers so that we can know their readiness towards adopting STEM practices in their Teaching learning practices. The research employed descriptive survey method and the author adopted the STEM awareness scale developed by Buyruk, B. & Korkmaz. The scale which had the validated items from various domains like cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. This study was conducted with 180 pre service teachers from various teacher education institutions in Dindigul. The Simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from the sample. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and correlational methods to determine the levels and prevalence of STEM awareness among pre service teachers. The study highlights that the STEM Awareness enhancing their inquiry based learning and interdisciplinary teaching learning approach also it equips them with the digital competencies for the emerging classroom needs.

Keywords: STEM, Pre-Service Teachers, Teacher Education

Topic: STEM Education and Technology