Science Teachers' Views on the STEM Approach and their Levels of Integration of Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Disciplines into Science Education

When the revised and updated 2018 and 2024 science curricula are examined, it is seen that the integration of engineering, technology and mathematics disciplines into the teaching of science subjects is supported. The integration of these four disciplines is defined by the science-technology-engineering-mathematics (STEM or STEM) approach. As this approach has gained a foothold in schools, STEM education has become a topic of increasing focus. In order to provide STEM education in schools successfully, teachers' level of integration of STEM disciplines and their self-efficacy in this regard are important factors. In this sense, the aim of this study is to determine science teachers' views on their level of integrating STEM disciplines into science courses and their self-efficacy in this regard. The study group of research consists of 10 science teachers working in public schools in a provincial center located in the Eastern Anatolia region in the spring semester of 2022-2023. The study was designed in accordance with qualitative research methodology. Semi-structured interview technique was used as a data collection tool. In the interview, the participants were asked 10 open-ended questions developed by the researcher with expert opinion and audio recordings were taken during the interview. The voice recordings were analyzed and the data were analyzed, tables were created, categories were determined in the tables and teachers' opinions were expressed with codes. According to the findings, it was determined that science teachers correctly defined STEM, were able to associate STEM education with other disciplines, expressed their thoughts on integrating STEM disciplines into the science course, and expressed the problems they encountered or could encounter in STEM applications. Teachers mostly expressed the problems they encountered as insufficient materials, infrastructure problems, and insufficient teacher knowledge.