Developing Pre-service Elementary Science Teachers’ Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs through Microteaching by Promoting Efficacy Sources

Science teaching efficacy belief (STEB) is of paramount importance as it motivates teachers to teach science or hinders them from teaching science. Pre-service teachers' efficacy beliefs may change during their method courses. Knowing how pre-service teachers' beliefs change over time can significantly contribute to teacher educators to improve teacher efficacy. This study examined the effect of microteaching on pre-service elementary science teachers' STEB. Pretest-posttest control group design was utilized. Data was collected using the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI-B) developed by Enochs and Riggs (1990) both at the beginning and end of the study. The treatment group planned and taught mini-lessons. The lessons were videotaped and evaluated in detail by watching the videotapes. The microteachers replanned and retaught the mini-lessons based on the feedback. The microteaching practices were conducted to support efficacy sources. The control group only planned and taught mini-lessons and received brief and undetailed feedback. Results showed significant differences in participants' personal science teaching efficacy beliefs and student outcome expectancy beliefs in terms of the treatment group. The STEB scores of the control group also decreased at the end of the study. It is suggested that pre-service teachers should have the opportunity to reflect on their performances, artifacts, or lesson plans and to design them several times.

ENHANCING PERFORMANCE AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING AMONG HIGHER DIPLOMA SCIENCE TEACHERS USING COGNITIVE APPRENTICESHIP MODE

The focus of the expert interaction in a cognitive apprenticeship is on developing cognitive skills of reflection through discourse and application of knowledge. The propose of this study explanatory a method for enhancing the effectiveness of cognitive apprenticeship theory for improving personal science teaching efficacy beliefs of higher diploma preservice teachers. The research is based on the study of the impact of cognitive apprenticeship in studying science materials. The study involved 22 teachers (20-30 years) enrolled in 14-week Science teaching strategies course in the high general diploma in Science and Humanities College-Jubail, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. The instrument contained 23 items and divided into two sub-scales: 13 items measuring personal science teaching efficacy PSTE and 10 items measuring science teaching outcome efficacy STOE. The quantitative findings showed a continuous statistically significant linear increase between before and after course measures of PSTE. However, a slight decrease in their PSTE was observed in the final post-course measure that is a commonly observed long-term effect after many educational interventions. A t-test determined that the decline was not statistically significant, indicating that teaching internship had no significant effect on the preservice teachers' science teaching efficacy beliefs. The study provides a significant evidence to suggest that the preservice teachers perceived that their learning experience in the Science teaching strategies course by cognitive apprenticeship methods was unique when compared to before teaching methods courses taken.