This study investigated pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching materials utilization (TMU) focusing on the aspects of message design, usage, and visual design, and how demographic factors such as gender, age, university type, year of study, and teaching branch affect their self-efficacy in TMU. A group of 347 pre-service teachers studying at the faculty of education in different universities across Turkey were measured for their self-efficacy in the aspects of message design, usage, and visual design in teaching materials. The study quantitatively revealed that pre-service teachers demonstrated high levels of self-efficacy in all three domains. Notably, pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy varied significantly across demographic variables. Female pre-service teachers generally exhibited higher self-efficacy across all the subscales compared to their male counterparts. Age was also found to influence their self-efficacy in that older participants displayed greater competence. The pre-service teachers from foundation universities showed higher self-efficacy than those from state universities. However, the year of study did not significantly affect self-efficacy levels. Furthermore, significant differences in self-efficacy were also observed across different teaching branches, particularly in message design and usage, but not in visual design. This study contributes valuable insights for teacher education programs by emphasizing the importance of demographic considerations in developing teaching materials competencies among pre-service teachers.
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