2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering teaching self-efficacy is defined as teachers’ beliefs in their capacity to produce desired engineering teaching outcomes [1] and has an essential role in helping teachers deliver effective engineering instruction [2]. Yet, prior research indicates that many elementary teachers lack confidence in teaching engineering, which has been reported to constrain student learning and teachers’ pedagogical decision making [2], [3]. While professional learning (PL) initiatives have been shown to enhance elementary teachers’ engineering teaching self-efficacy [4], [5], most existing literature relies on single-point assessments and limited data sources (e.g., surveys, interviews), offering only a partial understanding of how teachers’ efficacy evolves over time. Additionally, engineering instruction remains largely absent, especially in rural communities [6], [7], [8]. Further, reduced teaching opportunities and lack of access to engineering focused PL can result in limited pedagogical knowledge and confidence to teach engineering [2], [9]. As a result, many rural elementary teachers report they struggle to integrate engineering into their practice [10].

This study addresses these challenges by investigating how rural elementary teachers’ participation in ongoing PL impacted their engineering teaching self-efficacy and identifies the factors/experiences within the PL that were most influential to the teachers’ efficacy over time. This study was guided by the following research questions: (1) What, if any impact, does engaging in ongoing PL have on rural elementary teachers’ engineering teaching self-efficacy? (2) What factors/experiences influenced teachers’ engineering teaching self-efficacy during ongoing PL?

Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy [11] offers a useful framework for understanding how elementary teachers develop confidence in teaching engineering through PL. Self-efficacy is developed through four key sources: mastery experiences (successful teaching or learning experiences), vicarious experiences (observing peers model effective instruction), social persuasion (encouragement and feedback), and physiological or emotional states (feelings that influence confidence). Within PL, opportunities for hands-on design, peer collaboration, and reflective discussion can strengthen efficacy across all sources, promoting sustained engagement in engineering teaching [3], [11].

This study is a part of a nationally funded research project that examines how rural elementary teachers’ ongoing participation within a larger PL community, and embedded engineering learning community, impacts their science and engineering practice. Nine teachers’ engineering teaching self-efficacy was examined over two years in response to the PL through multiple data sources: (a) T-STEM survey (pre-, post-, and end-of-year); (b) end-of-program interviews; and (c) teacher-generated engineering teaching confidence graphs. Data were examined using framework-guided thematic analysis [12], informed by Bandura’s sources of self-efficacy [11].

Findings underscore the multifaceted and individualized nature of how teachers developed self-efficacy over time in response to the PL, emphasizing the significance of vicarious and mastery experiences within the PL to promote teachers’ confidence. Although the sample was small, the study advances new insights into sources of engineering teaching self-efficacy, illustrating the importance of longitudinal, multi-source research in capturing the dynamic process of teacher development. Our paper will expand upon these findings by providing a rich description of how teachers’ self-efficacy developed throughout the PL by triangulating teachers’ interviews, engineering teaching confidence graphs, and T-STEM survey responses.