Informatics Teachers’ Self-efficacy - A Survey Instrument and First Results

Abstract

The general concept of self-efficacy is based on the individual’s own perception of being capable to handle challenging professional situations, for example in the fields of scientific knowledge, pedagogic expertise and conflict management. By means of existing literature, a questionnaire has been created to measure different aspects of self-efficacy in German informatics teachers as well as professional overload. Completed questionnaires of 58 informatics teachers have been analysed to investigate their perceived general self-efficacy and their informatics-specific self-efficacy. The results suggest that the majority of the surveyed teachers have a relatively high self-perceived overall self-efficacy and don’t feel professionally overloaded. In contrast to other studies, this investigation determines no correlations between informatics teacher’s general self-efficacy and their ratings of professional overload. However, there is only evidence for medium negative coherence between informatics teacher’s self-efficacy in a very subject-specific area of informatics and professional overload.