The school system in Oman faces a problem in educating students in integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities. This statement, in part, stems from science teachers’ preparation programs. This study was aimed to close a research gap in Oman by investigating science pre-service (trainee/student) teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching science by using engineering design processes. A self-efficacy beliefs for teaching as engineering design questionnaire was developed and utilized for measuring science trainee teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching science by engineering design methods. A descriptive approach with quantitative data collection was used as a design of the study. A sample of 73 students at Sultan Qaboos University participated voluntarily. The results showed that student teachers believed themselves to be highly successful in teaching science. BSc program trainee teachers had higher perceptions of themselves as highly successful in teaching science with regard to personal self-efficacy beliefs and in two scales in outcome expectations for science teaching in the new manner than did trainee teachers with a teacher qualification diploma. Regarding gender and major, there was no statistically significant difference in trainee teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. Contributions to research and future perspectives of the study findings on improving science teaching and learning are discussed.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to assess Omani teachers’ performance on tasks related to the stages of engineering design. To achieve this, data from an engineering design test was used, and demographic variables that are correlated with this performance were identified.Design/methodology/approach: This descriptive study employed a cross-sectional design and the collection of quantitative data. A sample of preservice science teachers from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) (n = 70) participated in this study.Findings: Findings showed low and moderate levels of proficiency related to the stages of engineering design. Differences between males and females in terms of performance on engineering design tasks were found, with females scoring higher overall on the assessment. Biology preservice teachers scored higher than teachers from the other two majors (physics and chemistry) in two subscales. There were also differences between teachers studying in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) program and the teacher qualification diploma (TQD) program.Originality/value: This study provides an overview, in an Arab setting, of preservice science teachers’ proficiency with engineering design process (EDP) tasks. It is hoped that the results may lead to improved instruction in science teacher training programs in similar contexts. Additionally, this research demonstrates how EDP competency relates to preservice teacher gender, major and preparation program. Findings from this study will contribute to the growing body of research investigating the strengths and shortcomings of teacher education programs in relation to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

Some Omani science teachers face a challenge in teaching students to deal with learning materials such as texts and pictures. Based on the need for adequate teaching with text-picture material (TPM), this study aimed at investigating the level of teachers’ (N = 886) attitudes and motivational orientations—as aspects of their professional competence—toward teaching with TPM and their relations to teacher background variables. The results showed a high level of teachers’ attitudes and motivational orientations in teaching with TPM and revealed low directed relations among teachers’ gender, teaching experience, and the number of science lessons taught per week in all classes. In addition, the results showed differences in teachers’ attitudes and motivational orientations in schools of different levels. The findings of this study contribute to the science education field by adding knowledge on important aspects of teachers’ competence for teaching with TPM and their relations to teachers’ demographic background in an Arab context such as that in Oman.