STEM teacher professional development in pre-service teacher education: A literature review

Abstract

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has recently been gaining popularity in a number of countries. This seems to have ramifications for increasing the intensity with which professional development programmes are implemented at both in-service and pre-service teacher levels. The present study provides a systematic literature review on scientific articles published between 2015 and 2021, examining how STEM teacher professional development programmes (STEM-TPD) led in the pre-service teacher corpus. Following a screening process, 66 studies were found to be eligible and in compliance with the review criteria. The review's findings indicate a positive trend in STEM-TPD scientific articles, with an increase in publications from year to year in many countries. The majority of studies were conducted in the United States and Turkey using various research methods. The STEM-TPD programme is carried out in three areas, namely, included in existing courses, conducted outside of lectures, and carried out on newly developed courses. We also ultimately discuss the seven most frequently used elements of STEM-TPD and the types of participant collaboration.