Sixty‐five preservice elementary teachers' math anxiety levels and confidence levels to teach elementary mathematics and science were measured. The confidence scores of subjects in different math anxiety groups were compared and the relationships between their math anxiety levels and confidence levels to teach mathematics and science were investigated. The results suggest that low math anxious preservice teachers are more confident to teach elementary mathematics and science than are their peers having higher levels of math anxiety. Negative correlations were found between preservice teachers' math anxiety and their confidence scores to teach elementary mathematics (r = −.638) and between preservice teachers' math anxiety and their confidence scores to teach elementary science (r = ‐.417). Also, personal math and science teaching self‐efficacy scores of participants were found to be correlated at .01 level (r =.549).
This study investigated Turkish preservice, elementary teachers' personal mathematics teaching efficacy (PMTE), and science teaching efficacy (PSTE) beliefs at the end of their teacher education program. A majority of the participants believed they were well prepared to teach both elementary mathematics and science, but their PSTE scores were significantly lower than their PMTE scores. However, a significant correlation was found between the PMTE and PSTE scores. No significant gender effect on PMTE and PSTE scores was observed, but unlike the results from other countries, Turkish female preservice elementary teachers were found to have slightly higher PMTE and PSTE scores than their male peers. High school major area was found to be a significant predictor of participants' PMTE and PSTE scores. Participants with mathematics/science high school majors were found to have significantly higher PMTE and PSTE scores than those with other high school majors.KEY WORDS: high school major area, personal mathematics teaching efficacy, personal science teaching efficacy, preservice elementary teacher
Abstract-This study investigated the career choice reasons and future career expectations of 129 preservice science teachers and explored whether these variables significantly vary with the participants' gender, socioeconomic status and their pre-university ideal careers. Based on the results of the multivariate tests and factorial variance analyses, the impact level order for the career choice factors of preservice science teachers was found to be as altruistic, intrinsic and extrinsic factors and also participants were found to hold positive future expectations. The calculated main and interaction effects for the gender and socio-economic status of the participants were found to be statistically insignificant on the impact levels of career choice reasons and future career expectations. For the pre-university ideal career variable, it has been concluded that participants who had aimed for teaching career before the university, possess significantly higher positive future career expectations and the impact level of altruistic and intrinsic factors are stronger for them. The impact level of the extrinsic factors was found to be similar across all sub-groups and participants' future career expectations were found to be linearly independent of the impact level of the extrinsic factors.
This study investigated the graphing skills and some affective states of middle school students about graphs by their gender, grade level, and the common graph types used in science courses. Participants’ line graph skills, self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward graphs, and their personal literacy perceptions about different graph types (line, bar, and pie) are explored quantitatively. Qualitative data was collected about the views of participants about graphs in general, as well as about the factors that impact students like/dislike certain graph types. Based on the findings, while participants were found to lack line graph skills, they were found to hold high self-efficacy beliefs and positive attitudes toward graphs. No significant difference among the dependent variables was found based on gender; however, grade level and graph type variables were found to impact students’ graph skills and personal graph literacy perceptions. Among the commonly used graphs in middle schools, a vast majority of students favored bar graphs, mostly due to the simplicity of them, and disliked pie charts, as finding them difficult to draw.
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