“I learned a lot, but…”: preservice elementary teachers’ integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy and perceived challenges

Background Recent K-12 education reforms emphasize integrated STEM (iSTEM) instruction to prepare young learners for interdisciplinary careers. However, elementary teachers often find iSTEM teaching challenging, partly due to limited emphasis on iSTEM training in teacher preparation programs. As a relatively new and evolving field, there remains a limited understanding of the challenges that preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) perceive and how these influence their iSTEM teaching self-efficacy. This mixed-methods exploratory concurrent research addresses this gap in the literature by investigating changes in PSTs’ self-efficacy and perceived challenges at the beginning and end of their science or STEM methods coursework. Data were collected from 465 PSTs across five institutions in the United States using the Self-Efficacy for Teaching Integrated STEM instrument (SETIS) and an open-ended questionnaire. Results Multivariate analysis of variance and paired t-tests revealed significant positive gains in iSTEM teaching self-efficacy, while McNemar tests indicated a significant decrease in overall perceived challenges by the end of the semester. Qualitative content analysis identified six major categories of perceived challenges: (1) teacher affect and experience, (2) student-related concerns, (3) content and curricular challenges, (4) pedagogical challenges, (5) support from others, and (6) time and resources. Structural equation modeling results showed a significant negative effect for the challenge related to lack of science or STEM content knowledge, with lower SETIS scores among those reporting this concern on the post-survey. In contrast, the challenge of technology access had a significant positive effect, suggesting that PSTs with higher SETIS scores were more likely to identify this concern. Conclusions The overall gains in PSTs’ iSTEM teaching self-efficacy highlight the potential benefits of methods coursework, whether these experiences are situated within science methods coursework or a designated STEM semester with multiple STEM-themed methods courses. PSTs reported fewer challenges at the end compared to the beginning of the semester, suggesting that participation in science or STEM methods coursework alleviated, though did not entirely eliminate, some concerns. Recognizing perceived challenges can better prepare PSTs for iSTEM instruction and help reduce future surprises. Accordingly, these findings offer valuable implications for PST preparation in iSTEM coursework and future research.