Engineering Professional Development: Elementary Teachers' Self-efficacy and Sources of Self-efficacy

Currently, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is a popular buzz word in P -12 education as it represents a means to advance American competitiveness in the global economy. Proponents of the engineering component of STEM advocate additional benefits in teaching engineering, such as its capacity to engage students in collaboration, and to apply critical thinking, systems thinking, negotiation, and communication skills to solve real-life contextual problems. Establishing a strong foundation of engineering knowledge at a young age will provide students with internal motivation as it taps into their curiosity toward how things work, and it also prepares them for secondary science courses. Successful STEM education is often constrained by elementary teachers’ low perception of self-efficacy to teach science and engineering. Elementary teachers with low self-efficacy in science are more likely to spend less instructional time teaching science, which suggests that teachers with little to no training in engineering might avoid teaching this topic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the effects of engineering professional development on elementary (K-6) teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and perceptions of self-efficacy to teach engineering, and (b) to identify and explain sources influencing self-efficacy. Professional development was conducted in a metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest. Results revealed that after the engineering professional development, teachers experienced statistically significant gains in content, PCK, and self-efficacy to teach engineering. Increases in self-efficacy were mainly attributed to ii mastery experiences and cultivation of a growth mindset by embracing the engineering design process. iii Dedication I would like to dedicate this paper to my husband, Don Webb, whose support for me through the whole process of completing my doctorate has never wavered. iv Acknowledgements When I first began my journey of working toward a Doctorate in Education at Portland State University, the advisors of my cohort asked each of us to draw a picture of a researcher. One detail I recall from that drawing was that my researcher was climbing a mountain. I remember thinking a mountain was appropriate because I was setting upon a journey of research that would be as difficult as climbing a mountain. Having the personal experience of climbing to the base camp of Mt. Everest and witnessing the commitment and risk mountaineers take to reach their goals, I knew climbing could be a monumental challenge. At the moment, I feel I have reached the summit. I am standing on top of the mountain and I am looking forward to the future that awaits me. Before I contemplate the future, I reflect upon the many people who have helped me along the way. My primary support, my sherpas if you will, were my two cohort leaders, Dr. Dannelle D. Stevens and Dr. Micki M. Caskey. They were my cheerleaders along the way and did an amazing job of modeling and scaffolding the research and writing process. Dannelle, a.k. a. FreeWriting Guru, gave me so many tools to help me tap into the significance of my work, break it down, and put it into writing. I will always laugh thinking about the number of times I wrote and rewrote my purpose statement because of Dannelle’s encouragement and wisdom. Micki, a.k. a. Queen of APA, was invaluable in helping me edit all my papers. I know I am a better writer today because of these strong, caring, and brilliant women! v Every good mountaineer requires good climbing boots equipped with crampons to maneuver through difficult terrain. My crampons, if you will, was an assortment of people. Emily Saxton, Director of Research and Assessment for the Portland Metro STEM Partnership (PMSP), was critical in explaining the purpose, common measures, and basic logistics of the STEM Partnership. Emily spent extra time with me discussing the advantages and disadvantages of research methods and I am grateful for her time. Dr. Cary Sneider and Erika Hansen, co-instructors for the Advancing STEM Instruction through Engineering Design course, honored me by including me in the planning and teaching of the professional development course from which I collected my data. Likewise, Carol Biskupic-Knight, Director of PMSP’s Teacher Academy, helped to enfold me within the professional development staff. Also, helping me through the difficult academic terrain was Dr. Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Susan J. Lenski, Dr. Samuel Henry, and Dr. Moti Hara. Of course, climbing a really tall mountain would not be possible without addressing the problem of warmth, especially for me because I get cold very easily. My warmth consisted of the encouragement and support from family and friends. My husband, Don Webb, has supported me through this entire journey and reminded me of how proud he was of me during times when I complained about the amount of sacrifice expected of me. My son, Travis Shappell, helped me with editing and bouncing back ideas, particularly with regards to the benefits of learning engineering. As I previously mentioned, my journey included sacrifices. One sacrifice was in the time I spent with friends. My best friend, Debra Mathews, was my rock in this area. Both Debra’s parents vi were educators and her father completed his doctorate while raising a family. With this perspective, Debra was so understanding of my busy schedule and always had positive words of encouragement for me. I consider her a true blessing in my life! Looking ahead, I know there is more to do. Therefore, I would like to thank my dissertation committee members who participated in this journey of mine. Thanks to Dr. Dannelle Stevens for honoring me with your leadership as the chair of my committee. Thanks to Dr. Micki Caskey for all the tips and resources to support my reading and writing. Thanks to Gwen Shusterman, who agreed to be my Graduate Office Representative and inspires me with her own passion toward science teaching and learning. Thanks to Dr. Sybil Kelley, whose expertise in elementary science teaching and connection to the PMSP adds tremendous value to my work. Finally, thanks to Dr. Pat Burk for sharing your administrative perspective and vast fund of knowledge that contributes to the bigger picture of my work. vii Table of