Investigating the Impact of Professional Development of Global STEM Education on Teacher Self-efficacy and Instructional Practice: A Multiple Case Study

This multiple case study examined three elementary school teachers from a large suburban school district in Texas that engaged in a professional development program centered on global STEM education. The focus was on understanding how learning during professional development for global STEM education impacted teacher’s change in self-efficacy, practice, and also examined factors related to teacher’s perceptions of global STEM education practices. This study explores changes in beliefs, self-efficacy, and practice with global STEM over the course of a four month period. The research was viewed through a conceptual framework adapted from Desimone’s work on professional development. The research design utilized multiple data collection techniques including surveys, interviews, observations, and document analysis. Each of the three single case studies findings were reported separately for an understanding of teachers’ perceived self-efficacy and practice, and the findings from these cases were aggregated across the three case studies to answer the research questions. Findings from this study suggest that while two of the teachers changed their beliefs of self-efficacy in STEM and all three implemented STEM practices in the classroom, they did not apply global practices with STEM. This indicated a gap between professional development theory and self-efficacy and practice. An implication of the study’s findings includes a focus on teacher collaboration within grade levels or campus bands to share ideas about global STEM education.