The Impact of a Health Methods Class on Pre-service Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Intent to Teach Health

Abstract

Background Elementary schoolteachers are an important vehicle for teaching students health skills that will carry them through life and reduce their future risk of disease linked to health behaviors. Purpose To determine whether university classroom instruction resulted in increased self-efficacy and intent to teach a skill-based health curriculum for elementary pre-service teachers seeking certification. Methods A quasi-experimental design examined pre-service teachers' self-efficacy, outcome expectations, outcome value, and intent to teach health skills and content in pre-service teachers seeking certification who participated in a teaching methods class compared to controls who did not. Results A significant interaction between groups over time was found for self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and intent to teach. Furthermore, pre-service teachers exposed to the course were more likely to express an intent to teach skill-based health education and outcome values were higher postintervention. Discussion A skill-based health methods class increases pre-service teachers' self-efficacy and desire to teach skill-based health education. Translation to Health Education Practice The importance of health issues in the elementary school, coupled with the fact that most elementary health education is taught by classroom teachers and that self-efficacy is linked to teacher effectiveness, implies that well-designed curricula are imperative for future elementary schoolteachers.