Changes in Preservice Elementary Teachers' Sense of Efficacy in Teaching Science

Abstract

This paper reports progress to date on a longitudinal study of changes in preservice teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching science. The study involved procedures designed to validate, in an Australian context, the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI‐B) comprised of two scales: Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Scale (STE) and Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy Scale (STO). Concomitantly, the instrument was used to monitor changes in teachers' sense of science teaching efficacy employing a pretest and repeated posttest, one group research design. The subjects were students enrolled in a three‐year Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) program. Correlations between pretest scores on STEBI‐B and other measures of personal beliefs and behaviors, namely academic self concept and academic locus of control, supported the validity of STEBI‐B. The results indicate that, over three semesters of the program, there was significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores on the STE scale. Possible explanations of the results obtained are discussed and evaluated and a justification for further long term research into teachers' sense of efficacy in teaching science is provided. Implications of the results for the teaching of elementary school science are discussed.

Self-efficacy in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in Australian Schools

“…Contextual factors for teacher self-efficacy found in previous research include collective teacher efficacy (Goddard et al, 2000;Goddard et al, 2004;Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007), and support from parents and school administrators (Klassen & Chiu, 2010;RameyGassert, et al, 1996;Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007;Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010). Similar to previous finding on the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and collective teacher efficacy, this research shows influence from other teachers on self-efficacy of Chinese language teachers.…”

“…Teacher self-efficacy may also be domain specific. For example, according to previous research (Ginns, Watters, Tulip, & Lucas, 1995;Ramey-Gassert, Shroyer, & Staver, 1996), teacher's self-efficacy is correlated with teacher's preference in the subject and teacher's previous subject-related learning or professional development. Ramey-Gassert et al (1996), for example, revealed that science teachers who had successful experiences in learning science or overcoming challenges in science subjects demonstrate more favourable attitudes toward science, which contributes to their self-efficacy in teaching science.…”

“…Individual teachers have beliefs about the capability of their teacher teams in producing given outcomes of students learning. Goddard et al (2004) argued for a positive relation between perceived collective efficacy and individual teacher self-efficacy based on the belief that perceived high collective teacher efficacy sets high expectations on individual teachers and encourages them to persist in their efforts. Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2007) further stated that the positive effect of collective teacher efficacy on individual teachers' selfefficacy may be mediated through student achievement.…”

The Effect of the Teaching Practice on Pre-service Elementary Teachers’ Science Teaching Efficacy and Classroom Management Beliefs

“…The development of teacher efficacy and classroom management beliefs among pre-service teachers has been investigated by the many researchers, because once these beliefs are established, they would show resistance to change (Ginns, Tulip, Watters, & Lucas, 1995;Fortman & Pontius, 2000;Lorna, Neelam, & Kyesha, 2002). Pintrich (1990) suggested that teachers' beliefs would ultimately prove to be the most valuable psychological construct to teacher education.…”

Science Teacher Education

“…Preservice teachers who are expected to engage in teaching science in elementary school commonly hold low self-efficacy beliefs about their ability to teach science after graduation (Enochs & Riggs, 1990;Ginns, Watters, Tulip, & Lucas, 1995;Ginns & Watters, 1996;Watters, Ginns, Enochs & Asoko, 1995). This low sense of self-efficacy militates against them engaging effectively in learning science.…”