I CAN TEACH THAT! IDENTIFYING FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE SCIENCE TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY IN PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

Self-efficacy (SE) is the belief in one’s ability to successfully perform a given task. The Self Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) measures changes in student confidence towards teaching science and is widely used in SE research, but the vast majority of studies have collected data from science methods courses rather than content courses.

Each semester for the past three years, I have administered the STEBI in an inquiry-based Earth Science content course for elementary education majors. Prior research from this class has shown that the course improves student confidence towards teaching Earth science content because the students learn Earth Science concepts that most had not visited since middle school.

This study sought to identify possible factors that might influence the observed increases in student SE by using a series of within-subjects, repeated measures ANOVAs to compare the STEBI data from 152 students (from 7 sections) against 8 demographic and course variables. Results found significant (p>= .05) differences based on instructor and university grade level. The variables of course section, gender, mother and father education, # HS science courses, and HS size did not produce any significant differences in SE. Differences by instructor may be due to small sample size from one instructor. For university grade level, freshmen exhibited the lowest SE and seniors the highest. This difference reflects student progress through a multi-year undergraduate education program that requires multiple learning experiences in local schools and multiple opportunities to practice teaching prior to student teaching.

The STEBI was also given to 93 students (including 9 education majors) taking 3 introductory, lecture-based, science courses. Comparison of education majors between course types found that students in the lecture courses did not improve their SE scores but students in the inquiry-based course did show improved self-efficacy.

These results suggest that science teaching SE is controlled by student teaching experiences as part of their education program rather than external, demographic variables. The method through which science content is delivered may also impact student self-efficacy, but more research is needed to account for the small sample size and differences in desired teaching levels.