Integrating STEM instruction through identifying interest and identity in STEM professionals

This qualitative study was founded on research suggestions outlined in the report STEM Integration in K-12 Education: Status, Prospects, and an Agenda for Research by the Committee on Integrated STEM Education (Honey et al., 2014). It was the purpose of this study to explore teachers’ interest/identity/self-efficacy stories to uncover common philosophical perspectives, attributes, or cognitive processes and procedures used by teachers in integrating STEM content areas with the goal of defining best practices in STEM integration for teacher credentialing and/or staff development. Participant demographics included eight teacher/administrators; study sites and participants were chosen based on purposeful selection and maximum variation. After analysis of each participant’s interest/identity story, utilizing grounded theory approach, it was suggested that the way in which each participant viewed their identity within STEM education affected their ability to integrate the separate STEM content fields.