- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 1950218
- First Name Regina
- Last Name Toolin
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline Chemistry, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Geosciences, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, STEM Education (general)
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Regina Toolin, University of Vermont
Need
Teacher readiness and willingness to engage in professional learning requiring some risk and reflection when experimenting with new teaching behaviors may be related to a teacher’s self-perception of his or her comfort expressed as a position on Maslow’s hierarchy of personal need. (Joyce et al., 1983; Joyce & McKibbin, 1980). To successfully assume the roles and responsibilities of a classroom teacher, preservice teachers need to be cognizant of their personal and professional self-efficacy as well as the impact they may have on overall student achievement in their classrooms.
Research Questions
RQ1. To what extent did Noyce interns’ professional self-efficacy change from pre to post MAT program completion? RQ 2. To what extent are measures of professional self-efficacy expressed as narrative essay themes associated with a standardized measure of teacher self-efficacy (Teacher Self-efficacy Survey)?RQ3. To what extent are measures of professional self-efficacy variable within and between subjects across time?
Approach
This mixed-methods research study utilized both qualitative methods for deriving data from pre and post essays and quantitative methods for describing the reliability and relationships among standardized measures of professional self-efficacy. The combination of data drawn from pre and post essays, intern portfolio writing and a pre and post measure of perceptions of teacher self-efficacy constituted a mixed-methods approach to design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Combining qualitative with quantitative data enhanced the study from the standpoint that observed patterns of response to related measures of self-efficacy if found to be similarly directional and consistent with respect to the conceptual framework can add to the validity of observations. Specifically, in the previous related study of a different cohort of scholars (Toolin and Meyers, 2020), self-efficacy was examined from a content analysis of narrative scholar case studies for changes in personal and professional orientation to the teacher’s role. In the present study, the framework of self-efficacy that was the basis for the previous study was maintained but a standardized measure of self-efficacy (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2007) was added to the analysis to estimate changes in scholar perceptions of self-efficacy. Themes of professional transition (Bischoff et al., 2017) served as a model for the conceptual and analytical frameworks that examined changes in intern professional self-efficacy pre and post MAT program completion. Five broad emergent themes that described how STEM interns evolved from preservice to in-service teachers were utilized in coding and analysis. The five broad emergent themes were matched with standardized measures of Teacher Self-Efficacy Scales (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). In addition, drawing upon the literature (Bandura, 1997; Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993; Moore & Esselman, 1992) of teacher perceptions of self-efficacy and competence, expected changes in the current data were derived for each theme. Grouping the TSES scores (pre-test, post-test, and gain scores) was accomplished with a matrix of self-efficacy themes from the essay data and factor scores from the TSES pre and post questionnaires.
Outcomes
Analysis of the trajectories of change in the dimensions of the TSES relied upon the stability of measurement of the TSES scales reported above. Results of t-tests on mean differences of the Total Post-PreScale scores indicated a significant gain in intern perception of teacher efficacy of 11 score points which represents nearly an average standard deviation (13) and an effect size of .56. Significant gains were found on the sub-scales of Engagement, 4 score points (ES .53); Instruction, 8 score points, (ES 1.92) Classroom Management, 3 score points (ES 2.78). The Goals Scale improved by 2 score points but did not significantly improve. Since there were 6 intern records for these data it was possible to inspect both sub-scales and items. An inspection of these tabular data suggests that not all interns felt equally efficacious on the TSES Post Scales. In any case, we observed significant growth in a positive direction during the period of the student teaching internship. The somewhat unexpected increase in intern perceptions of the Management and Instruction sub-scales signals some evidence that within the context of the theory of teacher self-efficacy related to personal perceptions of self-efficacy and commitment, these interns may have a higher level of probability for retention in the profession than might have been expected (Nieto, 2003; Cochran-Smith, 2004). Findings from results of the analysis of pre and post survey data indicates that measures of self-efficacy including the overall TSES scale and sub-scales varied across time (RQ1 and RQ3).A summary of intern commentary in the post essay indicates general awareness of professional growth:•Most interns reported few challenges in developing professional goals while enrolled in the program. Limited experience with adolescents was cited as a source of challenge to developing a professional vision of the teacher’s role .•Most interns reported growth in their developing professional vision of the teacher’s role. They generally reported an awareness that their perceptions were changing over time. •Most interns reported increasing confidence and perception of their own developing skills. •Interns were generally aware that their professional knowledge and skill had increased in quantity and quality over the time they were enrolled in the program. •Awareness of increasing knowledge and skill related to teaching was reported as instrumental to their growing confidence. Interns indicated that they were growing in professional competence in the planning and delivery of instruction, the ability to lead parent/teacher conferences, the use of formative assessment data to inform instruction, and the ability to bring their knowledge of science to bear in the design of instructional units.
Broader Impacts
Implications arising from this study may be informative for teacher educators and school professionals who become colleagues of MAT graduates who have had an opportunity to deeply reflect upon the personal and professional growth that they have experienced in their teacher preparation program. The common view of novice teachers may be that they enter the teaching profession with little understanding of their own growth and little to share with colleagues. The data observed in this study suggests that far from being novice teachers, graduates of programs that foster reflection and colleagueship may be considered valued partners in professional learning communities with much to share about the knowledge and experience that they have gained during practicum and student teaching internships that extend into initial years of teaching. Like other research engaged in self-efficacy study (Thompson et al., 2019, 2020) this research adds to the body of knowledge supporting the integration of professional course work, practicum field experiences, and self-reflection as pathways to self-efficacy and resiliency that may predict longer and more productive professional trajectories for teachers (Capara et al., 2006). More specifically, the findings of growth in perception of self-efficacy support greater emphasis on those components of the program (mentoring and self-reflection) that emphasize the development of personal values (Nieto, 2003). Periodic measurement of intern perceptions of self-efficacy over the course of teacher education programs could provide points of intervention that might enable faculty, mentors, and interns to open authentic dialogue and further develop meaningful mentoring relationships.
