A Study of Disposition, Engagement, Efficacy, and Vitality of Teachers in Designing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education.

This study proposes and tests a theoretical model of how perceptions of disposition, engagement, and efficacy of teachers for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) e-learning can predict their sense of vitality when they designed STEM education. Upon the proposition, we developed and validated an instrument for examining the relationships between these variables. The participants were 122 secondary teachers of STEM education from Hong Kong. The instrument included four design aspects as follows: (i) disposition, (ii) lesson design engagement, (iii) efficacy for designing STEM e-learning, and (iv) vitality of teachers after attending a series of STEM professional development activities. To analyze the relationships among the variables, partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed. The disposition of teachers predicted lesson design engagement and both of these factors, in turn, predicted efficacy for designing STEM e-learning. In other words, if teachers have a high proposition toward designing learning activities, their engagement in the lesson design process may enhance their capacities in designing and implementing such activities. Also, the disposition of teachers and lesson design engagement predicted their vitality, revealing that well-suited STEM teachers should not only be able to design a STEM curriculum but also have a positive perception of STEM education.