Comparing the STEM Attitudes of Science and Classroom Pre-service Teachers Receiving STEM Education: An Effect Size-Based Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FED.2026.03.15Keywords:
STEM education, pre-service teachers, STEM attitude, effect size.Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes of pre-service science and classroom teachers who have completed a STEM education course toward STEM education and to examine whether these attitudes differ by teaching specialisation. This study used a descriptive survey design, a type of quantitative research. The students participating in the study were science and pre-service classroom teachers who had taken a STEM education course. Data were collected using the STEM Education Attitude Scale, and the results were analysed using an independent samples t-test. The effect size (Cohen's d) calculation was applied to assess the significance of differences between groups. The findings revealed that both groups of pre-service teachers demonstrated high levels of positive attitudes toward STEM education. No statistically significant differences were found between pre-service science teachers and classroom teachers in overall STEM attitude scores or subscale scores. Moreover, the calculated effect sizes were small, indicating that the differences by teaching specialisation were also limited in practical terms. This result may be attributed to the fact that all participants had previously completed a STEM education course. In general, it is necessary to increase the number of courses on STEM education in teacher training programs because it has been observed that STEM education promotes similar, positive attitudes among pre-service teachers from different disciplines.
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