FEMALE PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ ACHIEVEMENT GOALS AND PERFORMANCE ANXIETIES DURING IMPLEMENTING STEM EDUCATION PROJECTS FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Female preschool educators usually perceive themselves as less proficient in STEM, leading to heightened performance anxiety (PA), which in turn affects their achievement goals (AG). So, this study aims to examine the impact of PA on AG among female preservice preschool educators implementing STEM education projects. This research hypothesized that PA has both immediate and sustained effects on AG over multiple periods. Additionally, we posited that initial levels of PA and AG are interrelated and influence changes in each other over time. To test these hypotheses, data is collected from sixty female preservice preschool educators participating in a STEM education community for preschool children. Participants completed the Assessment Scale of STEM Education Learning Motivation for Preschool Teachers and the Assessment Scale of STEM Activity Performance for Preschool Teachers. The result of the path analysis model revealed satisfactory indices of goodness-of-fit, but the effects of PA on AG varied across different periods. The latent growth curve models also demonstrated a good fit, showing significant negative covariances between the intercepts and slopes of PA and AG. Specifically, PA exhibited a higher intercept but a lower slope compared to AG. The correlations between the intercepts and slopes of PA and AG were significant, though no significant connections were found between the intercepts and slopes of the two constructs. These findings suggest that while PA initially has a strong influence on AG, its impact diminishes over time, highlighting the complex and evolving relationship between PA and AG in preservice preschool educators engaged in STEM education projects. Keywords: achievement goal, female preservice teacher, latent growth curve model, performance anxiety, preschool children, STEM,