Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Experiences in Designing STEM Lessons

This study aims to investigate the views of pre-service mathematics teachers on STEM education and the challenges encountered during the lesson planning process. The qualitative research method was utilized for in-depth analysis. In the study, pre-service mathematics teachers were engaged in activities related to STEM that the researchers prepared. After this, they were asked to create and teach lesson plans focusing on STEM. In order to get more information about their experience, three interviews were conducted with them at the beginning, middle, and the end of the study. Analysis of the interviews revealed significant changes in the pre-service teachers’ comprehension of STEM education. Furthermore, it was observed that the participants could integrate mathematics and science into their lessons more easily than engineering and technology disciplines. The participants who stated that the integration of mathematics and technology is important could not actually perform this integration effectively. Finally, the participants stated that STEM education is an essential educational approach within mathematics education, expressing their intentions to incorporate STEM activities into their future lesson plans.