Shedding Light on Preservice Teachers' Domain-Specific Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice teachers' efficacy beliefs across domains in a reading-specific methods course. Participants were preservice teachers in a state required reading methods course. During this course, preservice teachers were required to work with an elementary student in reading and write a case study linking theory to practice. At the beginning and end of the course, participants completed a battery of adapted, domain-specific versions of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale. Results showed that preservice teachers reported a significant increase in their sense of efficacy within each domain. However, efficacy beliefs differed with regard to domain.