Beliefs Of Teacher Candidates Research Articles

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic Process on Classroom Teacher Candidates' Self-Efficacy Beliefs in the Science Laboratory Applications Course

Face-to-face instruction was discontinued due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and problems emerged with the implementation of the three-semester online and two-semester hybrid educational models, particularly in the courses that required laboratory studies. The science laboratory applications course, which the students of the classroom teaching program are responsible for, was one of the courses in which these difficulties were encountered. Within the scope of this course, pre-service teachers must conduct one-on-one experiments and present them to their peers. In this study, which attempted to determine the impacts of the practices that were not conducted during the pandemic process on the self-efficacy beliefs of teacher candidates for this course, first of all, the "Self-Efficacy Scale for the use of science laboratory" developed by Kızkapan and Saylan-Kırmizigul (2021) was used. The candidates' views regarding the various methods of conducting this course were then taken in writing. The analysis revealed that the candidates who took the course online and, in a hybrid learning environment had lower self-efficacy beliefs than the candidates who took the course face-to-face. Also, it was found that almost all of the pre-service teachers preferred to take the course face to face.

Perpetuating neoliberal pathologies: what teacher candidates believe students with disabilities should learn

Teachers’ beliefs impact student outcomes. Yet, regulatory agencies look to standardized accountability measures to establish a base for student improvement. This study examines other qualitative factors that impact student success by exploring teacher candidates’ beliefs about what students should learn. Specifically, it examines the beliefs of teacher candidates who were enrolled in a course on teaching students with disabilities. Education Journey Maps and interview data were conducted with 24 teacher candidates. Analyzed through a conceptual framework of Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) and neoliberalism, results indicate that teacher candidates possess an economic habitus that seeks standardization, commodifiable skills, and individualism. Teacher candidates implicitly understand that human capacity and diversity are multifaceted but believe that holding the same standards for everyone will rid our education system of discrimination against people with disabilities. This work has implications for wider debates on the impacts of standardization and neoliberalism in teacher education.

An Investigation of the Effects of Out-of-School Learning Environments-Based Teaching on Pedagogical Belief Systems and Practices

In out-of-school-learning (OSL) environments, individuals are exposed to tasks that are not excessively difficult, and as a result, they gain experience rather than knowledge. Through the experiences that will be provided to teacher candidates, this situation can affect their pedagogical beliefs and attitudes toward classroom practices. This study investigated the impact of experiencing learner-centered processes in OSL environments on teacher candidates’ pedagogical beliefs and classroom practices attitudes. According to the findings, while teaching in OSL environments led to a change in the pedagogical beliefs of teacher candidates, it did not result in a significant shift in their attitudes toward classroom practices. In the context of research conducted on teacher candidates, it is beneficial to explore the mediating elements that may influence the relation between belief and practice. This approach may contribute to a more thorough understanding of the subject matter.

CORRELATION BETWEEN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER CANDIDATES’ EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS AND THEIR INFORMATION LITERACY LEVELS

It is evident that the school is the fundamental institution where both information literacy and sophisticated and flexible epistemological beliefs can be acquired as a competence subject. In this context, the main problem this study aims to address is the vital importance of educating pre-service teachers as information literates with sophisticated and flexible epistemological belief levels for teacher training institutions. Thus, this study aims to determine the epistemological belief and information literacy levels of Social Studies teacher candidates and to investigate whether there is a significant relationship between both levels. Conducted in a relational survey model, the study focuses on the effects of gender and class variables. Participants were 426 social studies teacher candidates studying at four different state universities located in the provinces of Bursa, Istanbul and Çanakkale in the academic year of 2018-2019. During the data collection process, we used the Epistemological Beliefs Scale originally developed by Schommer (1990), and the Information Literacy Scale developed by Adıgüzel (2011). The Epistemological Beliefs Scale utilised in our study was the Turkish version of the scale adapted into Turkish by Deryakulu & Büyüköztürk (2002) and whose validity and reliability analyses were made by Aydın et al. (2017). Apart from these two scales, the participants were also provided with a Personal Information Form to be filled in. Various statistical analyses and tests were applied to the collected data and the following basic findings were obtained: The epistemological beliefs and information literacy skills of social studies teacher candidates are at a high level. There was a low and moderate correlation between the epistemological beliefs of teacher candidates and their information literacy levels in the dimension of "belief that learning depends on effort" and "belief that learning depends on talent,” and a low correlation in the dimension of "belief that there is only one truth.”

The study of the relationship between 21st-century learner skills, individual innovativeness and epistemological beliefs of teacher candidates by structural equation modelling

The aim of the study reported on here was to build a structural model of the relationship between 21st-century learner skills, individual innovativeness and epistemological beliefs. Data of the study were collected with three different scales, namely, the 21st-Century Learner Skills Scale, the Epistemological Beliefs Scale, and the Individual Innovativeness Scale. The population of the study constituted 627 teacher candidates studying at Mersin University during the summer term of 2016 to 2017. After the data collection process, Structural Equation Modelling was applied through the LISREL program to determine what kind of model was established among the scales. According to the results, an increase of 1 unit in the Individual Innovativeness Scales leads to an increase of 0.51 units in the 21st-Century Learner Skills Scale, while an increase of 1 unit in the Epistemological Beliefs Scale results in an increase of 0.34 units in the 21st-Century Learner Skills Scale.

Beliefs of preschool teacher candidates about the nature of science

The aim of science education is to enable children to become “science-literate.” Science literacy is defined as taking responsibility for and making decisions about situations requiring scientific understanding and having sufficient knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding of values to put their decisions into practice. Revealing teachers’ beliefs can help to understand the types of experiences presented by teachers in their classrooms. Inadequate understandings and misbeliefs of teachers shape the first perceptions of children about the NOS when they are formally introduced with science education in their early childhood. Most of the studies were also performed with science teachers and there have been few studies conducted with preschool teachers. Therefore, the present study was directed towards determining NOS beliefs of preschool teacher candidates. To achieve this aim, Nature of Science Beliefs Scale (NOSBS), developed by Özcan and Turgut (2014), was administered to the preschool teacher candidates studying in Preschool Education Department of Buca Education Faculty at Dokuz Eylül University in the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. In the study, the NOS beliefs of the teacher candidates were found to be acceptable in general. While the findings of this study are consistent with those revealed in several relevant studies in the literature

Investigation of the Core Beliefs of the Teacher Candidates through Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract Introduction: The research aims to investigate the relationship between pedagogical beliefs, epistemological beliefs of teacher candidates as well as their beliefs toward learning. Methods: The study is a quantitative study based on a correlational survey model. Analysis of the data was done through artificial neural networks. The sample consists of fourth-grade students (teacher candidates) in social studies education in Süleyman Demirel University. Results: In this study, it is found that beliefs toward learning are effective regarding pedagogical beliefs, epistemological beliefs. Discussion: Hence, our finding is important in terms of implying that beliefs toward learning are more fundamental than the epistemological beliefs and pedagogical beliefs so that beliefs toward learning should be remedied to educate more qualified teachers. Limitations: There were several limitations to this study. First, the very nature of identifying beliefs is difficult. The second limitation is that this research relied on only teachers’ self-reported data. The third limitation is the population. Our population is small for making more general deductions regarding teacher candidates’ core beliefs such as taking teacher candidates from different geographical areas of Turkey even from different cultures. Conclusion: In this study, it is found that beliefs toward learning are effective regarding pedagogical beliefs, epistemological beliefs and pedagogical beliefs are effective about epistemological beliefs to the same extend. Hence, our finding is important in terms of implying that beliefs toward learning are more fundamental than the epistemological beliefs and pedagogical beliefs so that beliefs toward learning should be remedied to educate more qualified teachers.

The Impact of a Research Methods Course on Teacher Candidates’ Epistemological Beliefs

The epistemological beliefs of teachers impact both their in-class practices and the perceptions and beliefs of the students whose learning is the responsibility of teachers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate and discuss the impact of a course entitled “research methods” which is taught in education faculties in Turkey, on the epistemological beliefs of teacher candidates. The study adopted the mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. Forty-three teacher candidates participated in the study. The data for the study were collected through the “Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Scale (SEBs)”, a semi-structured interview form, and another form that included the written opinions of teacher candidates. The findings revealed that the research methods taught to teacher candidates do not have a statistically significant impact on their epistemological beliefs. But the analysis of the semi-structured interviews with teacher candidates and their written comments revealed that the teacher candidates explained the nature of knowledge, its sources, and the way scientists work through the traditional understanding of science.

English

The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between ‘educational beliefs’ and ‘teacher self-efficacy perceptions’ of pre-service teachers in the faculty of education. A total of 1002 pre-service teachers, 463 final year undergraduate and 539 certificate program students, participated in the study voluntarily at the Necatibey Faculty of Education in Balıkesir University. 'Educational Beliefs Scale' developed by Yılmaz and 'Turkish Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale' developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy which was adapted to Turkish by Çapa were applied on the participants. As a result of the research, a significant difference was found in pre-service teachers' self-efficacy opinions regarding gender variable in favor of men. Besides that, a significant difference was found in favor of women in terms of progressivism and existentialism in education beliefs and in favor of men in terms of essentialism. Other results of the research are as follows: when the beliefs of education and self-efficacy beliefs of teacher trainees were examined in terms of academic discipline variable, there was no significant difference in self-efficacy beliefs of teacher candidates. In terms of educational belief variable, only a significant difference was observed in existentialism dimension. According to sources of teacher education variable, a significant difference was found in favor of formation students in self-efficacy dimension related to classroom management. Lastly, according to the source of teacher training, it was seen that the students of the faculty of education adopted the philosophy of existentialism more, whereas the formation students adopted the essentialism more.   Key words: Teacher education, pre-service teachers, self-efficacy beliefs, educational beliefs.

Beliefs of Teacher Candidates Toward Science Teaching

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to compare the beliefs of teacher candidates from preschool teaching, classroom teaching and science teaching programs have toward their science teaching. A correlational survey model was applied for the design of the study. The study sample consisted of 236 teacher candidates who were selected using the maximum variation sampling method in the 2018–2019 academic year. The candidates were selected from undergraduate students of varying socio-economic backgrounds who were enrolled in different departments of public universities in Turkey’s eastern, western and central regions. The study data were collected using DASTT-C. Results from the study indicated that a large proportion of the preschool teacher candidates had an exploratory teaching style, that classroom teacher candidates obtained similar scores in traditional and conceptual teaching methods, and that a majority of the science teacher candidates had a traditional teaching style. The scores obtained from the drawings of the teacher candidates were subjected to descriptive analysis based on the sub-scales constituting the DASTT-C, and it was found that the teacher candidates from different departments achieved high scores, especially on the “teacher” sub- scale, which indicates that the teacher candidates adopted a traditional teaching style. Furthermore, the teacher candidates obtained lower scores on the “student” sub-scale, which means that they adopted an exploratory teacher style. Finally, the study analyzes showed that the male teacher candidates had higher DASTT-C scores, an indication that they tended to apply traditional teaching styles in the sciences.

The Effect of Micro-teaching Practices on the Professional Self-determination Beliefs of Teacher Candidates in University Education in Turkey

The aim of this study is to show the effect of micro-teaching technique applied to teacher candidates in pedagogical formation program in Turkish universities on the perception of professional self-efficacy. Unequalized experiment and quasi-experimental method with control group were used in the study. The study group of the study consisted of 55 prospective teachers studying in the 2018-2019 fall semester pedagogical formation program of the Faculty of Education of Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. The research data were collected through the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale according to the pre-test post-test application model. In the research, presentations were video-taped. The video footage was watched in the classroom and criticisms and discussions were made about how a better presentation could be. The course activities, in which each participant prospective teacher made three presentations during the activity period, were carried out for 12 weeks. According to the findings, the experimental group of teachers in terms of self-sufficiency beliefs see themselves more adequate than the control group. However, there was no differentiation between groups in the subdimension of self-efficacy.

The Relationship between Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Teacher Candidates and Their Attitudes about Computer-Assisted Instruction

The Relationship between Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Teacher Candidates and Their Attitudes about Computer-Assisted Instruction

An analysis of teacher candidates' epistemological beliefs: A qualitative study

This study aimed to determine epistemological beliefs of teacher candidates. For this aim, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 56 teacher candidates. The interviews were recorded and records related to epistemological beliefs were transcribed, and then descriptive analyses were conducted. The results of the analyses revealed three main belief dimension. Regarding the first dimension, the candidates associated between learning and effort, and they thought that the innate ability would improve via effort; as for the second dimension, the majority thought that knowledge construction process is slow and a relative concept; and regarding the third dimension, most of the teacher candidates were of three different perspectives - knowledge absolutely changes, it changes based on the field and it doesn't change. Also, most of the candidates stated that words possess more than one meaning, people attribute meanings to words on the basis of their experiences, and there is not only one true answer to scientific problems, since knowledge changes in time and scientists propose different solutions to problems.

Teacher candidates’ self-efficacy beliefs and possible selves throughout the teaching practice period in Turkey

This research aims to study the change observed in self-efficacy beliefs and possible selves of teacher candidates regarding their first year in the profession after the completion of teaching practice. The research has a mix design method utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools. The quantitative part of the research has been prepared in accordance with pretest/posttest model with single group. In this context, 70 teacher candidates have been administered both “Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale” and “New Teacher Possible Selves Questionnaire” at the beginning and end of the term as pretest and posttest in order to identify the change caused by teaching practice. With respect to the qualitative part of the research, ten volunteered candidates have been interviewed through semi-structured interviews following the termination of teaching practice. Joint interpretation of both quantitative and qualitative findings of this research indicates that teaching practice has an influence over self-efficacy beliefs and teacher possible selves of teacher candidates. In this research, overall self-efficacy beliefs of teacher candidates have been identified to improve after teaching practice. With respect to the dimensions of self-efficacy beliefs, the findings of this research point that teaching practice hasn’t produced any positive effects over self-efficacy beliefs of teacher candidates regarding class management, but levels of self-efficacy beliefs concerning student engagement and teaching strategies have improved after teaching practice. On the other hand, united evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative findings of this study shows that not much has changed regarding expected teacher possible selves, but not feared teacher possible selves of teacher candidates.

The Predictive Power of the Self-efficacy Beliefs of Physical Education Candidate Teachers on their Attitudes towards the Assessment and Evaluation in Education

The aim of the research is to examine relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes for assessment and evaluation of physical education candidate teachers. In this research, the relational model has been used. Study group consists of 86 women (48%), 93 men (52%) and total 179 physical education teacher candidates (Mage=22.17, SD=1.61) who are studying at physical education department in three universities. As data collection tool “Self-Efficacy Perceptions of Candidate Teachers at Assessment and Evaluation in Education” and “Attitude toward Educational Measurement Inventory” has been used. In the analysis, addition to descriptive statistics, inferential statistics such as correlation and regression analysis has been used. It has determined that ''self-efficacy based-skill'' belief for assessment and evaluation in this research has a moderate effect size towards attitude for assessment and evaluation. Also, it has been shown that variables constituting self-efficacy belief subscale for assessment and evaluation have explained 10% of total variance for assessment and evaluation of attitude in education. Besides, it has been found that attitude and self-efficacy beliefs of teacher candidates for assessment and evaluation in education were high level.

Evaluation of the Learning to Teach for Social Justice–Beliefs Scale in an Australian context

A concern for social justice pervades the espoused curriculum of many pre-service teaching programmes, but the extent to which that curriculum influences the beliefs students hold is an open question. With the goal of developing an instrument suitable for evaluating such beliefs at the degree programme level, the present study analysed responses to the Learning to Teach for Social Justice–Beliefs (LTSJ–B) Scale (Enterline, S., Cochran-Smith, M., Ludlow, J.H., & Mitescu, E. (2008). Learning to teach for social justice: Measuring change in the beliefs of teacher candidates. The New Educator, 4, 267–290. doi:10.1080/15476880802430361) from 304 Australian pre-service teachers. Exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis both indicated a two-factor structure, driven by a methodological artefact of item valence. We conclude from these findings that a short, five-item version of the LTSJ–B Scale would suitably balance psychometric and pragmatic considerations, in the broader context of working within an institutionally aligned system of teaching evaluation with multiple levels.

The Relationship between Metacognitive Awareness, Teacher Self-efficacy and Chemistry Competency Perceptions

In this study, the metacognitive awareness, teachers self-efficacy and chemistry competency perceptions of teacher candidates is determined and the relationship between metacognitive awareness, teacher self efficacy and chemistry competency perceptions of teacher candidates is examined. Research tools of this study are “Metacognitive Awareness Inventory”, “Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale” and “Chemistry Field Competency Scale”. Metacognitive awareness inventory is developed by Schraw and Dennison (1994). Teachers’ sense of efficacy scale is developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001). Chemistry field competency scale is developed by Güneş, Kavak and Yamak (2011). It has been found out from the study that there is a relationship between metacognitive awareness, chemistry competency perceptions and teacher self-efficacy beliefs of teacher candidates.

Türkçe Öğretmeni Adaylarının Lisans Düzeyinde Verilen Yabancılara Türkçe Öğretimi (YTÖ) Dersine Yönelik Özyeterlik Algıları

Araştırmanın amacı, Eğitim Fakültesi Türkçe Eğitimi Bölümü programında yer alan “Yabancılara Türkçe Öğretimi” dersini alan öğretmen adaylarının yabancılara Türkçe öğretimine dair özyeterlik inançlarının belirlenmesidir. Araştırma betimsel nitelikte olup, amaç ve alt amaçları karşılamaya uygun olduğu düşünülen “tarama modeli”nden yararlanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Türkçe Eğitimi Bölümü “Yabancılara Türkçe Öğretimi” dersini almış olan 3. ve 4.sınıf öğrencileri (276 öğrenci) çalışmanın evrenini, 3. ve 4.sınıf öğrencilerinden 236 öğrenci ise çalışmanın örneklemini oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama aracı olarak, Tschannen-Moran ve Woolfolk Hoy tarafından 2001 yılında geliştirilen; öğretmenlerin özyeterlik inançlarına yönelik özyeterlik ölçeğinin Türkçeye adapte edilmiş şekli kullanılmıştır. Ölçek, Çapa, Çakıroğlu ve Sarıkaya (2005) tarafından Türkçeye uyarlanmış ve Türkiye’deki dört ildeki altı farklı üniversiteden 628 öğretmen adayının katılımı ile güvenirlik ve geçerliliği test edilmiştir. Söz konusu ölçek, Yabancılara Türkçe Öğretimi dersine uyarlanmış ve 3 farklı uzmanın görüşüne sunulduktan sonra bu çalışmada kullanılmıştır. Bayan öğretmen adayları, yabancılara Türkçe öğretimi konusunda, motivasyon, özyeterlik, ölçme değerlendirme ve yabancı dil öğretim yöntemlerini kullanma boyutlarında, erkek öğretmen adaylarına göre kendilerini daha yeterli görmektedirler. Ayrıca; Yabancılara Türkçe Öğretimi dersini alan 4.sınıf öğretmen adayları yabancı dil öğretiminde kullanılan yöntemler boyutunda, 3.sınıf öğretmen adaylarına göre kendilerini daha yeterli görmektedirler.

Canadian FSL Teacher Candidate Beliefs about Students with Learning Difficulties

Through the lens of critical theory, and with consideration of research on the beliefs of teacher candidates and inclusion, this study considers the views of French Second Language pre-service teachers toward students with learning difficulties. This study reports on the results of two questionnaires, implemented prior to and following the participants’ classroom practicum experiences, as a way to determine if and how experience and/or other personal demographic factors shaped their beliefs. Results indicated that personal experience with individuals with disabilities, along with the length of the practicum experience were reasons for more positive views towards this student population, which support new conceptualizations of teachers’ work with students from different “cultures.”

Investigation of cultural beliefs of physical education teacher candidates with faculty of education

The purpose of this study is to adapt the Turkish version of Teacher's Cultural Beliefs Scale (OCDS) that is developed by Hachfeld et al (2011) that determines the cultural beliefs of teacher candidates, to determine physical education teachers' cultural beliefs and to compare physical education teacher candidates and other teacher candidates in terms of cultural beliefs and in addition, to examine cultural beliefs in terms of gender and grade variables in education. The research group consists of 330 teacher candidates in total that are educated at the faculty of physical education and training. As a data collection tool, OCDC and personal information form were used. In the analysis of research data, t-test and one way analysis of variance technique were used in order to determine the difference between descriptive statistics and dependent and independent variables. While there is not encountered significant difference (p>05) between arithmetic averages that are in attitude levels for cultural beliefs in terms of grade variables (p>.05), there is a significant differences in belief subscale and total scale for egalitarianism according to gender (p<.05). Besides, there are significant differences determined in attitudes towards cultural beliefs of teacher candidates of physical education and training faculties in terms of department variables (p<.05). Consequently, it was seen that the beliefs about multiculturalism and egalitarianism of physical education teacher candidates and other teacher candidates have been positive and as well as this, it was determined that other teacher candidates were at a higher level according to physical education teacher candidates.