An investigation of pre-service teacher’s self-efficacy and self-Image as a science teacher in Egypt

Research question one: ‘What images do pre-service teachers have of themselves as science teachers at the beginning of the science teaching methods course?

The 'Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test- Checklist' (DASTT-C) was used as a tool to measure aspects related to science teachers’ behaviour in class. Pre-service teachers were asked to draw images of self in the classroom in approximately 15 minutes. High scores indicate that the image being examined represents a more ‘teacher-centred’ class, while low scores imply a more ‘student-centred’ class. Thomas and Pedersen (2001), in their study, stated that scores above 6.5 reflect a more ‘teacher-centred’, while those below 6.5 reflect a ‘student-centred’. Due to the modifications made to the original categories, ‘teacher-centredness’ was assumed with scores higher than 5, and ‘student-centredness’ with scores lower than 5. A group of 8 pre-service teachers’ drawings were randomly selected and used to determine inter-rater reliability for the DASTT‑C in this study. Two raters separately scored the drawings with an acceptable reliability score (= 0.766). Table I represents frequency of ‘teacher-centredness’ found in participants’ images.

Table I. Frequency of ‘teacher-centredness’ in pre DASTT-C images

Primary students n=9		Chemistry student n=5		Biology students n= 22
Frequency	Percent%	Frequency	Percent%	Frequency	Percent%
7	77.7	5	100	22	100

Table I shows that the majority of pre-service teachers entered the science teaching methods course with ‘teacher-centredness’ images.

Research question two: ‘What science teaching beliefs do pre-service teachers have of themselves at the beginning of the science teaching methods course?

The STEBI-B instrument, with its embedded two subscales PSTE and STOE, was administered to all participants in this study at the beginning of the teaching methods course to identify efficacy beliefs to selves as science teachers. High scores on the PSTE indicate a strong belief in one's ability to teach science. Scores can range from 13 to 65. High scores on the STOE indicate high expectations in regard to the outcomes of science teaching on student’s achievement. Scores on this subscale can range from 10 to 50. Table II represents participants’ descriptive statistics.

Table II. Descriptive statistics of scores on STEBI-B instrument

	Primary students n=9				Chemistry student n=5				Biology students n= 22
	Min score	Max score	Mean	SD	Min score	Max score	Mean	SD	Min score	Max score	Mean	SD
PSTE	34	41	37.00	2.64	35	42	39.60	2.70	31	42	36.77	3.30
STOE	28	35	31.33	2.50	21	28	24.2	2.80	24	40	30.04	4.30

Research question three: ‘Does the science teaching methods course have an impact on pre-service teachers’ images of self?’

Participants were asked to draw images of self as science teachers after 14 weeks from beginning the science teaching methods course. Teaching and learning approaches throughout the course was based on constructivism. Statistical analysis was carried out using independent t-tests with SPSS (version 10.0 for Windows) on the modified DASTT-C total checklist score, ‘teacher-centredness’. Table III shows that, in general, mean scores decreased from pre-testing to post-testing for all three groups. Significant decreases occurred only in the Chemistry group.

Table III. Means, standard deviations and t-tests on DASTT-C

Primary students n=9

Chemistry student n=5

Biology students n= 22

Pre test

Post test

Pre test

Post test

Pre test

Post test

Mean

7.33

1.58

6.00

1.50

1.83

7.20*

.44

5.20 *

1.30

3.24

7.68

.83

7.27

.55

1.91

Research question four: ‘Does the science teaching methods course have an impact on pre-service teachers’ self- efficacy beliefs?’

The STEBI-B instrument was re-administered to participants of the study at the end of the science teaching methods course. Independent t-test analyses with SPSS (version 10.0 for Windows) were used. As stated above, the STEBI-B instrument consists of two subscales, each measures a different aspect of the science teacher efficacy beliefs about self. The PSTE subscale reflects teachers’ confidence in their ability to teach science, while the STOE subscale reflects teachers’ beliefs that student learning can be influenced by their effective teaching, therefore, scores on the two subscales were treated separately. Table IV shows a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the mean score for all three groups of pre-service teachers on the PSTE and the STOE subscales by post-testing at the end of the science teaching methods course.

Table IV. Means, standard deviations and t-tests on STEBI-B instrument

	Primary students n=9			Chemistry student n=5			Biology students n= 22
	Post test			Post test			Post test
	Mean	SD	t	Mean	SD	t	Mean	SD	t
PSTE	51.22	4.35	-8.377	54.00	3.54	-7.236	51.73	4.41	-12.723
STOE	41.33	3.67	-6.751	37.6	2.07	-8.475	38.22	3.25	-7.116

Research question five: ‘Are pre-service teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs more inclined to include features of student-centredness in their drawing?’

Since the educational context of this study implies a shift towards more ‘student-centred’ strategies in Egyptian schools and universities, the study searched for patterns in participants’ responses to the instruments used. According to previous studies (Finson, 2001; Finson, et. al., 1999) portrays that represent ‘student-centredness’ are expected to be found in drawings of those with high self-efficacy scores, while those with low self-efficacy scores tend to portray images that represent 'teacher-centredness'. Participants’ scores on the self-efficacy instrument (STEBI-B) were two separate totals from two subscales, PSTE and STOE, which can not be summed together due to the different aspects of science teaching self-efficacy beliefs each represent. From this perspective, to answer this research question subsidiary questions were apparent: do pre-service teachers with ‘high’ PSTE scores portray images of ‘student-centredness’? do pre-service teachers with ‘high’ STOE scores portray images of ‘student-centredness’?

Previous studies, examining correlations between self-efficacy beliefs with other variables, categorised scores from the STEBI subscales to either high or low (Kitsantas, & Baylor, 2001; Finson, 2001; Finson, et. al., 1999). Participants' scores on the PSTE and STOE subscales, in this study, were placed on the two extremes of the STEBI-B instrument, high efficacious teachers and low efficacious teachers. ‘High’ scores equalled to or exceeded one standard deviation above the mean, while ‘low’ scores equalled to or were less than one standard deviation below the mean. These procedures were followed since previous studies (Finson, 2001) indicate that participants having ‘low’ PSTE scores tend to teach, or view their teaching, to be more conventional and teacher-centred, while those having ‘high’ PSTE scores tend to use more contemporary, student-centred strategies. In order to examine the impact of the science teaching methods course on the expected relationship between the study’s variables, Pearson correlation coefficient matrix was used with pre and post scores. Table V illustrates correlations between pre and post PSTE and STOE scores with pre and post ‘teacher-centredness’ scores on the DASTT-C from participants of the three groups.

PRE DASTT-C scores		POST DASTT-C scores
Teacher-centredness score		Teacher-centredness score
high PSTE n=5	-.080	high PSTE n=5	-.559
high STOE n=6	-.315	high STOE n=9	.503

* Significant at p < 0.05

Results in Table V show that there were negative and positive correlations between the study’s variables. It should be noted that negative correlations illustrate that pre-service teachers grow to believe in their ability to teach efficiently, impact students learning and achievement moving from ‘teacher-centredness’ to ‘student-centredness’ methodologies.

Correlations between pre PSTE and ‘teacher-centredness’ scores on the DASTT-C showed that participants with ‘high’ PSTE scores had negative and little, if any, correlations (r = -.080). Negative and low correlations (r = -.315) were found between those with pre 'high' STOE scores and ‘teacher-centredness’ scores. Correlations between post PSTE and ‘teacher-centredness’ scores illustrated that participants with ‘high’ PSTE scores had negative and moderate correlations (r = -.559). Positive and moderate correlations (r = .503) were found between those with post ‘high’ STOE scores and ‘teacher-centredness’ scores.

Copyright (C) 2006 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 7, Issue 2, Article 2 (Dec., 2006). All Rights Reserved.