Determination of science teachers' and preservice teachers' critical thinking skills and efficacy and attitudes towards STEM

The purpose of this research is to determine the critical thinking skills of science teachers and preservice science teachers, and their competencies and attitudes towards STEM. The study was carried out with the relational screening model, one of the quantitative research methods. The participants of the research were 29 science teachers working in public schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Kastamonu city center in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year, and 66 preservice science teachers studying in the 1st-4th grades of Kastamonu University Education Faculty Science Education Department. The Critical Thinking Skill Questionnaire and the Scale of Competence and Attitude towards STEM were used to collect the data of the research, and the analysis of the obtained quantitative data was carried out with the SSPS 25.0 package program. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was determined that while there was a significant difference in the proficiency and attitudes of science teachers towards STEM in terms of gender, professional seniority, and education level, there was no significant difference in terms of the variable of receiving STEM education. While there was a significant difference in the proficiency and attitudes of preservice science teachers towards STEM according to the gender variable, there was no significant difference when the desire to receive graduate education was examined according to the variables of getting education for the STEM approach. When the attitudes of science teachers towards critical thinking skills were examined in terms of gender, professional seniority, education level, and getting education for the STEM approach, no significant difference was found. When the preservice science teachers were examined in terms of gender, grade level, desire to receive graduate education, and getting education for the STEM approach, no significant difference was found. Although there was a positive correlation between science teachers' and preservice science teachers' critical thinking skills and STEM competencies and attitudes, this relationship was found to be meaningless. As a result of the research, it was suggested that the undergraduate program should be organized for STEM applications for preservice science teachers, and applications should be made to increase their interest and knowledge in STEM. For science teachers, it is recommended to be informed about STEM education and to participate in courses, in-service training and applied projects in order to make up for their deficiencies.