Analyzing the effect of STEAM teaching on the STEAM pedagogical content knowledge and attitudes of visual arts pre-service teachers

In this study, it was aimed to the effect of art-based STEAM education on visual arts pre-service teachers' attitudes towards STEAM and their STEAM pedagogical content knowledge. Through this purpose, an art-based curriculum including STEAM theory and practices was prepared and the study was designed as a mixed method research. Purposeful sampling was used within determination of participants. The study group consisted of 20 junior visual arts pre-service teachers in first and second semester of 2021-2022 education year in Art Education Program at a state university located in Mediterranean region. The implementation process of the study was conducted through art-based STEAM education covering 60 lesson hours, each step of teaching was designed by the researcher taking expert opinions. The quantitative data of the research were collected by STEAM Attitude Scale and STEM Pedagogical Content Knowledge Scale and these measurement tools were applied three times; before, during and at the end of implementation. The analysis of the quantitative data obtained by 20 pre-service teachers was conducted via Friedman Test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. Qualitative data were gathered by interview with five focus pre-service teachers determined through purposeful sampling, observation and document analysis methods. The analysis of qualitative data was carried out by content analysis. According to the quantitative findings of the research, it was concluded that the course conducted with art-based STEAM education positively affected the attitudes of visual arts pre-service teachers towards STEAM, but was not effective in the development of STEM PCK. It has also been shown that lesson plan application helps the development of pre-service teachers' pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge, but it has been determined that more practice is needed. Regarding the evaluation of 30 weeks course, qualitative findings reached by observation, interviews and document analyses put forward that STEAM education had positive effects on all visual arts pre-service teachers participated in the process. In this context, it is considered that it would be useful to conduct more research on art-based STEAM practices and attainments in institutions that provide visual arts education. Keywords:, STEAM education, attitude towards STEAM, STEAM pedagogical content knowledge, visual arts teacher education