Investigation of the effects of STEM activity development process on entrepreneurship and STEM self-efficacy of pre-service science teachers

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of STEM activities development process on entrepreneurship and STEM self-efficacy of pre-service science teachers. At the same time, it is to determine the views of pre-service science teachers in the theoretical STEM education and STEM activities development process. This research has both quantitative and qualitative dimensions. The case study design was adopted in the qualitative dimension of the research and the simple experimental design was adopted in the quantitative dimension. The research was conducted in the fall semester of the 2018-2019 academic year with the participation of 48 pre- service science teachers attending their third year. The application lasted 10 weeks. During this period, the participants received theoretical training on STEM and developed a total of 58 STEM activities for 3 different STEM application models (engineering design-based, problem- based and project-based STEM). Within the scope of the research, STEM Applications Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale, Entrepreneurship Scale for Teacher Candidates and semi-structured interview questions were used as data tools. Content analysis was used in the analysis of qualitative data, and dependent sample t-test was used in analyzing quantitative data. As a result of the analyzes made, according to the pre-test and post-test results of the participants; A significant difference was found in favor of the post-test regarding STEM self-efficacy and entrepreneurship. As a result, it was determined that pre-service science teachers increased their STEM self-efficacy and entrepreneurship skills by taking STEM theoretical training and developing activities. Pre-service science teachers receive STEM education and develop original activities; It is thought that pre-service teachers paved the way to become entrepreneurial teachers and individuals who have innovative ideas and are open, take risks when necessary, self-confident, see the opportunities ahead and are willing to evaluate them. It can be said that the pre-service teachers learned which steps they should use while developing their own activities, and then, as they developed activities, they reached a level where they could explain how they applied these steps to their classes in the future. In addition, pre-service science teachers for the STEM education process; They gave positive opinions in terms of being a guide, facilitating their work, and using the information provided. Regarding the STEM activities development process; They stated that they learned how to create designs, to find problem situations from daily life, to integrate STEM disciplines and at the same time they had difficulties in doing these. Theoretical and applied STEM education courses are given to prospective teachers in education faculties. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, pre-service science teachers, STEM activities, STEM education, STEM self-efficacy