Date
7-22-2025
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education Administration (PhD)
Chair
Sara Capwell Geary
Keywords
STEM, self-efficacy, educator professional development, international schools
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Bergen, Erin J., "The Effect of Stem Professional Development on Self-Efficacy in K-12 Sub-Saharan Educators: A Quantitative, Experimental Study" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7237.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7237
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative, experimental study is to determine if there is a significant difference in self-efficacy in K-12 Christian educators across sub-Saharan Africa because of STEM professional development. This research will help determine if professional development leads to a sense of feeling equipped in STEM integration. The sample of participants is comprised of overseas educators across three sub-Saharan African schools. The number of participants in this experimental study is 81. The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument STEBI (Form A) was used to record the self-efficacy of the participating in-service educators for posttest-only control group evaluation. After completing descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation, the researcher conducted an independent samples t-test to analyze the data. The researcher rejected the null hypothesis at the 95% confidence level where t(79) = 3.621, p < .001. A large effect size (d = 0.833) was reported using Cohen’s d. A statistically significant difference in scores was identified between those who received STEM professional development and those in the control group who did not. Future research in this area could utilize the demographic survey results collected to investigate possible links between gender, years teaching, age, earned degree, the possession of teaching credentials, number of languages spoken, education level taught, and self-efficacy. Increasing the sample size and duration of the study to include a year-long study of Christian educator self-efficacy would also strengthen the validity of the findings. Future research could include retesting with translated instruments to ensure comprehension for non-native English speakers. Returning to the pretest-posttest model could be evaluated for future studies.
