The main purpose of this study was to examine changes in student teachers’ levels of sense of efficacy before and after their student teaching practicum. Furthermore, this study examines the extent to which the variables of interest affected the student teachers’ sense of efficacy before and after teaching practicum. The subjects of this study were 127 student teachers doublemajoring in elementary (K through Grade 3) and early childhood education who were enrolled in student teaching credits during Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 at a Midwestern researchextensive university in the United States. Paired ttests indicated that the student teachers who responded to both pretest and posttest reported that their sense of efficacy increased significantly over time during a student teaching experience in overall student teachers’ efficacy scores. Along with the main results of this study, implications for research and practice were discussed.
International Journal of Early Childhood Education 2012, Vol 18 No 2, 73-92 Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy During Student Teaching Practicum 1)SunJin Oh Kyung Hee University, Korea SoJung Seo Kyung Hee University, Korea Abstract The main purpose of this study was to examine changes in student teachers’ levels of sense of efficacy before and after their student teaching practicum Furthermore, this study examines the extent to which the variables of interest affected the student teachers’ sense of efficacy before and after teaching practicum The subjects of this study were 127 student teachers double-majoring in elementary (K through Grade 3) and early childhood education who were enrolled in student teaching credits during Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 at a Midwestern research-extensive university in the United States Paired t-tests indicated that the student teachers who responded to both pretest and posttest reported that their sense of efficacy increased significantly over time during a student teaching experience in overall student teachers’ efficacy scores Along with the main results of this study, implications for research and practice were discussed [Key Words] student teachers’ sense of efficacy, student teaching practicum, changes in student teachers’ sense of efficacy Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to SoJung Seo, Department of Child & Family Studies, Kyung Hee University, #1 Hoegi-Dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea E-mail: seosojun@khu.ac.kr The paper was presented at The 7th KSECE Biennial International Conference in 2012 | 73 | Oh & Seo INTRODUCTION Teaching efficacy has emerged as an important construct for the teachers of primary or secondary school settings over the past 25 years In the early 2000s some researchers shifted their foci on the idea that the notion of teaching efficacy should be extended to the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) (Kim & Kim, 2010; Kim & Seo, 2010; Lai & Lo, 2007; Popa & Acedo, 2006) There have been increased demands to improve the quality of ECEC, in specific the outcomes of young children The role for early childhood educators requires them to be well equipped to provide behavioral, emotional and educational support for young children in need (Kim & Seo, 2010; Song & Seo, 2011) At the core of the shifted foci shared by researchers and practioners are the increased societal expectations that teachers in ECEC should play as active early intervention agents because young children spend significant amounts of time with their teachers in ECEC Coupled with the increased demands addressed above, compelling research evidence has been accumulated over the past decades on how teachers’ teaching efficacy influences students’ motivation in learning and outcomes in school (Song & Seo, 2011) Grounded in Bandura’s social cognitive theory, a teacher’s efficacy belief is one’s judgment of his or her capabilities to produce certain outcomes (Bandura, 1997) Teacher efficacy has been defined as a teacher’s “judgment of his or her capabilities to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning, even among those students who may be difficult or unmotivated” (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001, p 783) A body of research has consistently reported that teacher efficacy has positive effects on teacher effort and persistence in the face of challenges (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Song & Seo, 2011) Expectations of teacher efficacy among preservice and inservice teachers have been linked to positive teaching behaviors, such as stimulating effort on the part of students, modifying the teaching task, or giving praise and feedback to students who are particularly experiencing difficulty (Lai & Lo, 2007) Preservice teachers with high levels of teaching efficacy are more humanistic in their beliefs about controlling students than are those with low teaching efficacy (Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990; Woolfolk, Rosoff, & Hoy, 1990) The higher the efficacy of preservice teachers, the less they subscribed to a bureaucratic perspective (Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990) Low-efficacy inservice teachers were flustered if there was any interruption of their routine while they were engaged with small groups, whereas high-efficacy teachers seemed to utilize this format with more flexibility High-efficacy teachers communicate higher expectations by providing less criticism to students and persist with students until they respond correctly (Gibson & Dembo, 1984) | 74 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Importantly, Coladarci (1992) found that greater teaching commitment, which is used as an indicator of a teacher’s psychological attachment to the teaching profession, tended to be expressed by those elementary teachers who were higher in teachers’ sense of efficacy This result encourages those concerned with offsetting teacher attrition by promoting a teacher’s sense of efficacy Compared with the amounts of research conducted for teachers (K through grades) in primary and secondary school settings, less is known about sense of efficacy among teachers in ECEC Thus, there is a strong need to address the issues related to sense of efficacy among teachers in ECEC It has been argued that once the teaching efficacy beliefs of teachers are established, they generally may be difficult to change because beliefs about both the task of teaching and personal teaching competence are likely to remain unchanged unless compelling evidence intrudes and causes them to be reevaluated (Bandura, 1997) These beliefs, however, are being more open to changes during the early phases of learning to teach, and that is the reason why it is worthwhile to focus on the teaching efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers As Bandura (1977) postulated, efficacy would be most malleable early in learning, which has led a number of researchers to focus on preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs Along the same line, an issue that has received comparatively less attention is related to the development of or changes in teachers’ sense of efficacy as the most important determinant of self-efficacy (Hebert et al., 1998) Regarding changing levels of preservice teachers’ self-efficacy, there is evidence that levels of teacher efficacy are highest during preservice years but decrease with teaching experience (Hebert, Lee, & Williamson, 1998; Witcher et al., 2002) According to a study by Herbert and Worthy (2001), teacher education students have a significantly lower perception of the impact of elements outside the classroom on students’ behavior and performance compared to all groups of experienced teachers However, with teaching experience, teacher education students come to rate these external variables at higher levels These researchers think that sense of teacher efficacy peaks during preservice years because teacher candidates who have little or no direct teaching experiences are more likely than inservice teachers to have inaccurate perceptions of the challenges that face teachers Preservice teachers are more likely to overestimate what teachers can accomplish in the classroom because they have little understanding of the impact of outside influences and disruptive forces, such as student’s learning problems, as compared to inservice teachers with more teaching experiences who rate these outside variables as having greater influences (Hebert, Lee, & Williamson, 1998; Witcher et al., 2002) A few related studies provide a glimpse on how student teachers’ efficacy beliefs | 75 | Oh & Seo between the early portion of the student teaching practicum and the later portion of the practicum changed during the 12 week practicum period According to a study by Fives et al (2007), student teachers felt more confident in their abilities relative to instructional practices, classroom management, and student engagement regardless of placement type or school level from Time (between the 4th and 6th weeks of the practicum) to Time (between the 9th and 11th weeks of the practicum) Student teachers’ efficacy beliefs significantly increased over time in a relatively safe and supportive environment for student teachers with mastery and vicarious experiences Also, Poulou, Spinthourakis, and Papoulia-Tzelepi (2002) found that the efficacy values were higher for the first two of the six consecutive student teaching weeks they experienced for all of subjects In the third and the fourth session the efficacy values were their lowest, and then they again increased for the fifth and sixth session without reaching the heights of the first and second, although these differences were not found to be statistically significant To address the issue on the changes of preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs over time, the argument made by Charalambous, Philippou, and Kyriakides (2008) should be noted The preservice teachers’ teaching efficacy does not develop in uniform ways, especially in some area of mathematics instruction and classroom management during a fieldwork course In a study by Charalambous, Philippou, and Kyriakides (2008), the participants were clustered into four different groups, according to the level of their efficacy beliefs in teaching mathematics Preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs of the group (group A), in which they had moderate mean scores in teaching mathematics and managing a mathematics classroom at the beginning of fieldwork, were steadily strengthened, but not intensified during the course Efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers who entered fieldwork with relatively low efficacy beliefs (group B) were intensively improved in instructional skills and classroom management in mathematics throughout the course Preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs of the group (group C), in which they received the highest mean scores on both variables at the beginning of the course, were further enhanced during fieldwork, but not as much as their group B counterparts However, two of the preservice teachers (group D) who scored at the lowest level of teachers’ efficacy beliefs on both variables remained low throughout the course, particularly with respect to classroom management Thus, preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs in mathematics are changeable at the beginning, at the middle, and at the end of the course There were four different patterns in the development of preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs (Charalambous, Philippou, & Kyriakides, 2008) The finding pertaining to the changes in preservice teachers’ teaching efficacy, addressed herein underscores the importance of identifying in advance the student | 76 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy teachers who need more support and feedback from university supervisors and cooperating teachers It might be worthwhile to examine preservice teachers’ initial efficacy beliefs, provide support to and closely monitor students with alarmingly low efficacy beliefs from the beginning (Charalambous, Philippou, & Kyriakides, 2008) Bandura (1997) asserts that the initial development of self-efficacy expectations springs from four experiential sources: (1) enactive mastery experiences, (2) vicarious experiences, (3) verbal or social persuasion, and (4) physiological and/or emotional states Research on factors that elicit self efficacy suggests that there may be a two-cluster model: one cluster involves direct personal experience such as past performance, emotional arousal, and social persuasion, and another reflects indirect experiences, such as vicarious learning or modeling (Anderson & Betz, 2001) Mastery experience refers to a teacher’s experiences in terms of success and failure The most influential source of efficacy information described by Bandura (1997) is enactive mastery, which provides authentic evidence of the teacher’s performance in the classroom and school setting, with success leading to increased self-efficacy and failure to reduced self-efficacy Regarding mastery experiences, which for teachers come from actual teaching accomplishments with students (Bandura, 1997), efficacy beliefs are raised if teachers perceive their teaching performance to be a success, which then contributes to the expectations that teaching will be proficient in the future According to Bandura (1994), mastery experience is the most effective way to create a high sense of self-efficacy compared with the other efficacy sources Haverback and Parault (2008) suggested that an example of a mastery experience is a preservice teacher who is able to tutor children in reading in real classroom settings during their field experiences One-on-one tutoring as mastery experience might provide “preserivce teachers as reading tutors with insight into their future students as individuals while helping those children with their individual needs and possibly impacting their own efficacy” (p 244) They argued that educational researchers need to explore the possible benefits of using tutoring as a means of impacting preservice teachers’ efficacy and pedagogical knowledge for the teaching of reading Linek et al (1999) found that field experience was the most influential variable in preservice teachers’ belief changes about literacy learning and teaching For example, while they initially saw the child as a receiver of factual knowledge, they believed that the child actively constructs knowledge and that an important component of literacy instruction is fostering student interest and motivation at the end of a field-based course semester Preservice teachers whose literacy methods courses included field experiences reported that they were able to apply beliefs and practices of their university learning | 77 | Oh & Seo in authentic settings Preservice teachers who are exposed to more time in field experiences as their mastery experiences in the classroom had higher efficacy beliefs compared to their counterparts who did not have the field experience (Haverback & Parault, 2008) The population of practicing teachers in the United States is predominantly female, middle class, and White, but their future classrooms will likely be much more diverse This trend seems likely to continue as these characteristics are mirrored in the candidates who currently enroll in most teacher preparation programs (Gutierrez-Gomez, 2002) Thus, it is important to understand how preservice teachers negotiate the complexities inherent in teaching across cultural boundaries This understanding will then enable teacher educators to investigate ways of preparing teachers to work more effectively in culturally diverse schools Identity has a “natural” component that includes the individual’s gender, race, posture, personality, and so on (Gee, 2000) The formation of a teacher identity develops within social, organizational, and socio-historical circumstances The moment-to-moment interactions with students, the day-to-day relationships with peers, and the year-to-year shifts in responsibilities all have the potential for nudging the path of a teacher’s identity The teachers’ identity is influenced as the self intersects with events within one’s personal and professional lives Poulou (2007) found that student teachers’ university training (for example, type of courses offered during teacher training program, number of courses offered during teacher training program, and frequency of course attendance during teacher training program) was a significant predictors of efficacy for instructional strategies and classroom management Although the frequency of course attendance and the type and number of courses offered during teaching training programs were important sources of teaching efficacy (Poulou, 2007), Yeung and Watkins (2000) suggested that the course work undertaken in teacher colleges should cover the purpose of not only broadening the knowledge base of student teachers, but also of promoting applicability of what is learned from the college curricula to the local classroom Greater knowledge of the antecedents of efficacy beliefs of teachers can assist teacher educators, principals, and other practitioners in fostering student teachers’ sense of efficacy The overwhelming majority of research in the area of teacher efficacy has been conducted on inservice teachers (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Gibson & Dembo, 1984) in primary or secondary education, but relatively little is known about the knowledge base in this area among preservice teachers of ECEC Furthermore, there insufficient research on how those preservice teachers’ sense of efficacy changed over time Attention to the variables that support the development of a strong sense of efficacy among preservice | 78 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy teachers is worthwhile because once efficacy beliefs are established they appear to be somewhat resistant to change (Hoy & Spero, 2005) Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine changes in preservice teachers’ sense of efficacy before and after their student teaching practicum Also, this study examines to what extent the variables of interest affect the student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of their sense of efficacy before and after their student teaching practicum To meet the purpose of this study, a set of research questions were developed as follow: Do student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of sense of efficacy change over the course of the student teaching practicum? To what extent the factors (ethnic, age, gender, GPA, pre-student teaching hours) impact student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of their sense of efficacy before student teaching practicum? To what extent the factors of interest (e.g., ethnic, age, gender, GPA, pre-student teaching hours) impact student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of their sense of efficacy after student teaching practicum? METHOD Participants The subjects of this study were student teachers who wanted to have double majors in elementary education (ELED) and early childhood education (ECE) Also, the subjects of this study were all enrolled in student teaching credits during Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 at a Midwestern State University in the U.S., and they were invited to participate in this study Student teachers majoring in elementary education and early childhood education teach for two eight-week sessions at different grade levels Elementary education student teachers teach at kindergarten through third grade at their first placement and teach fourth through sixth grade at their second placement for each eight-week session For early childhood education majors, the first placement is preschool, and the second placement is kindergarten through third grade Particularly, Early Childhood Education | 79 | Oh & Seo (ECE) is a unified major in collaboration with the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and Department of Curriculum and Instruction which offers courses for ELED majors The ECE program is unique because it is an interdepartmental major ― meaning it is administered across two departments in the College of Human Science: Human Development and Family Studies and Curriculum and Instruction, sharing lots of required courses and teaching practicum experiences That is why graduates in ECE can teach across a wide age and grade span from birth up to grade (age 8) in general and special education Because early childhood education graduates are eligible to get a teacher license in kindergarten to grade like elementary education graduates, the participants in this study tended to be a homogeneous group Characteristics of participants Data from a total of 127 student teacher participants in pretest and 66 in posttest who voluntarily completed the survey questionnaire constitute the sample used in this study after combining the observations of Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 The majority of respondents were Caucasian/White student teachers (94.4%), while student teachers were African-American or Black, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic in the pretest Sixty-four student teachers were Caucasian/White student teachers (97%), AfricanAmerican or Black, and Asian or Pacific Islander in the posttest All respondents were at the senior grade level (100%) in the pretest, whereas 63 student teachers (95.5%) were seniors and participants (4.5%) were graduate students in the posttest Descriptive information regarding gender indicated that 6.3% were males (N=8) and 93.7% were females (N=118) in the pretest, while 4.5% were males (N=3) and 95.5% were females (N=63) in the posttest (see Table 1) Instruments This study employed the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) which is a 24-item measure, developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001) This scale consists of three dimensions: instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement An example of an instructional strategies item is “To what extent can you craft good questions for your students?” An example of a classroom management item is “How much can you to control disruptive behavior in the classroom?” An example of a student engagement item is “How much can you to motivate students who show low interest | 80 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Table Demographic variables of combined Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 student teachers data (N = 127) Variables African-American or Black Ethnicity Gender Age Grade level GPA Pre-student teaching hours Pretest N % 1.6 Posttest N % 1.5 Asian or Pacific Islander Caucasian/White Hispanic 119 1.6 94.4 2.4 64 1.5 97.0 Male Female 18-22 118 99 6.3 93.7 78.6 63 45 4.5 95.5 68.2 23-30 Over 30 Senior 26 126 20.6 0.8 100 20 63 30.3 1.5 95.5 Graduate 2.50-2.74 2.75-2.99 14 2.4 11.1 4.5 1.5 6.1 3.00-3.24 3.25-3.49 3.50-3.74 20 29 32 15.9 23.0 25.4 13 13 17 19.7 19.7 25.8 3.75-4.00 1-20 hours 28 22.2 1.6 18 27.3 3.1 21-40 hours 5.7 3.1 41-60 hours 61-80 hours 81 hours or more 15 34 65 12.2 27.6 52.8 10 17 33 15.6 26.6 51.6 in schoolwork?” The 9-point continuum in the original version of TSES was revised as a 5-point Likert scale in this study, from (= not at all) to (= a great deal), higher scores on this scale equated with greater efficacy beliefs Extending the previous measure to a substantially different context, the participants in this study were student teachers who were enrolled in student teaching credits during Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, double-majoring in elementary education and early childhood education at a Midwestern state university in the United States To verify the TSES instrument Cronbach’s α value was used to determine the reliability of the items in the survey instruments which has Likert-type items measuring student teachers’ sense of efficacy The results of Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) used in this study demonstrated an adequate level | 81 | Oh & Seo of reliability (α= 957 for pretest, α= 935 for posttest) Specifically, Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement which were three areas consisted of TSES were respectively 898, 925, 904 in the pretest Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement were respectively 868, 893, 808 in the posttest Data Collection Procedures All data for this study were collected from student teachers who enrolled in their student teaching practicum in either Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 The survey questionnaire was distributed twice each semester, at the beginning of the practicum and at the end of the practicum, to examine changes in student teachers’ beliefs in teaching efficacy The reason to collect data twice each semester for this study was to get a wide sample of student teachers because there were certain numbers of student teachers who could register into the University Teacher Education Program per each semester This cohort group design was for undergraduate students double-majored in elementary education and early childhood education who work through a curriculum together to achieve the same academic degree as well as teacher license in the University Teacher Education Program For pretest data collection for both Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, the survey questionnaire was distributed to student teachers at the Elementary and ECE Student Teaching Seminar, which was held the first day of Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 prior to the beginning of their teaching experience At this meeting, student teachers were informed of the purpose of this study and procedures as well as timelines for participation in this study For posttest data collection of Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, university supervisors at the scheduled university supervisor meeting prior to the first day of student teaching were informed of the purpose of this study and procedures and of timelines The university supervisors regularly meet and discuss the student teaching experience with student teachers once a week Thus, the package of surveys was given to the university supervisors who distributed each survey to their assigned student teacher one week before their final evaluation conference Student teachers could either turn their completed surveys back to their university supervisors or return them to the teacher education program office at the university The researcher sent a reminder email to university supervisors to confirm the dates they should submit the survey questionnaire to their assigned student teachers For all data collections, a brief instructional sheet and an envelope accompanied each survey, and the student teachers were directed to | 82 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy complete the surveys and place them in the envelope, which they could then seal Their confidentiality was thus ensured To improve the return rate for the posttest, the researcher sent the survey questionnaire to student teachers of both Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, using Qualtrics, which was an online survey method provided by the university, and this participation was voluntary Data Analysis Multiple regression analysis models were estimated, with the variables that correlated significantly with each dependent variable treated as independent variables Thus, multiple regression analysis was used to explore the differential impact of various sources of student teachers’ sense of efficacy This analysis was used to assess the relationship of instructional strategy, classroom management, student engagement, with various sources of student teachers’ efficacy beliefs Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated to determine whether any statistically significant relationships exist among student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of sense of efficacy between the pretest data and the posttest data A paired t-test was conducted to determine whether there was a significant change in the student teachers’ efficacy beliefs at the beginning of their student teaching practicum and at the end of the student teaching practicum RESULTS Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy In the data of 2009 Fall and 2010 Spring, means and standard deviations for student teachers’ sense of efficacy and the sources that impact student teachers’ efficacy in both the pretest and posttest are presented in Table to examine changes in student teachers’ efficacy beliefs before student teaching and after student teaching Paired t-tests indicated that 60 student teachers who responded to both the pretest and posttest surveys reported that their sense of efficacy significantly increased over time during a student teaching experience in all three areas of instructional strategies (from mean = 3.84 to 4.40), classroom management (from mean = 3.93 to 4.37), and student engagement (from mean = 3.80 to 4.22) as well as in overall student teachers’ efficacy scores (from mean = 3.85 to 4.33) These mean differences between pretest and posttest in all three areas of instructional strategies (t = 6.52, p < 001), classroom management (t = 5.40, p < 001), | 83 | Oh & Seo and student engagement (t = 5.85, p < 001) as well as in over all student teachers’ efficacy scores (t = 7.22, p < 001) were very statistically significance These results indicate that over time, the student teachers who participated in this study felt more confident in their abilities relative to instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement Student teachers’ efficacy ratings of their classroom management received the highest mean scores in the pretest, whereas instructional strategies received the highest mean scores in the posttest Table Paired t-test results of combined 2009 Fall and 2010 Spring data (N = 127) TSES Mean N Mean Difference Standard Deviation Standard Error t 56 67 09 6.52*** 44 64 08 5.40*** 43 56 07 5.85*** 48 51 07 7.22*** Instructional strategies Posttest 4.40 60 Pretest 3.84 60 Classroom management Posttest 4.37 60 Pretest 3.93 60 Student engagement Posttest 4.22 59 Pretest 3.80 59 Overall efficacy Posttest 4.33 59 Pretest 3.85 59 *** p < 001 Relations among Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy before and after Student Taching Practicum Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated to determine whether any statistically significant relationships exist among student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of sense of efficacy between the pretest data and the posttest data As Table showed, student teachers’ instructional strategies in the pretest were significantly related to instructional strategies (r = 31), student engagement (r = 44), and total scores of sense of efficacy (r = 38) in the posttest Efficacy for classroom management in the pretest had statistically significant (p < 0.01) relationships with instructional strategies (r = 35), student engagement (r = 37), and total scores of teaching efficacy (r = 38) in the posttest Student teachers’ student engagement in the pretest was significantly related to efficacy for student engagement (r = 42) and total scores of sense of efficacy in the posttest (r = 30) Additionally, student teachers’ total scores of | 84 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy sense of efficacy in the pretest was significantly related to total scores of sense of efficacy (r = 39), instructional strategies (r = 29), and student engagement (r = 45) in the posttest These results indicated that student teachers who felt more confident in their teaching abilities before conducting their student teaching fairly experienced greater feelings of sense of efficacy after completing their student teaching, with the exception of efficacy for classroom management Table Correlations of combined 2009 and 2010 sense of efficacy in the pretest and posttest Pre Instructional Strategies Pre Classroom Management Pre Student Engagement Pre Overall Efficacy Post Instructional Strategies 31* 35** 14 29* Post Classroom Management 19 20 21 22 Post Student Engagement 44** 37** 42** 45** Post Overall Efficacy 38** 38** 30* 39** ** p < 01, * p < 05 Predictors for Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the independent contributors of teaching efficacy that could influence student teachers’ sense of efficacy in both the pretest and posttests Student teachers’ GPA was a significant negative predictor of efficacy for instructional strategies (β = -.23, p < 05) and a modest predictor of total scores of sense of efficacy in the pretest (β = -.19, p = 05; see Table 4) Also, student teachers’ gender made significant independent contributions to predicting instructional strategies in the posttest (β = 29, p < 05) There were no significant predictors of efficacy for student teachers’ classroom management and student engagement The value of R was.11 when efficacy for instructional strategies served as a dependent variable, 04 when efficacy for classroom management served as a dependent variable, 05 when efficacy for student engagement served as a dependent variable, and 06 when total efficacy served as a dependent variable in the pretest This means that the regression model respectively explained 11%, 4%, 5%, and 6% of the each variance in the student teachers’ pretest mean efficacy | 85 | Oh & Seo Table Multiple regression analysis results of pretest predictors for student teachers’ sense of efficacy Outcomes (Pretest) Instructional Strategies Classroom Management B β t B -.03 -.02 -.24 -.05 -.58 -.29 2.88** -.19 -.17 -.08 -.01 -.11 R F β Student Engagement t B β t -.039 -.42 -.00 -.00 -.08 -.037 -.35 -.37 1.61 -.12 -.099 -.94 -.23 -2.39* -.05 -.119 -.01 -.15 -.05 -.100 -.04 2.85** B β -.03 -.01 -.01 -.07 -.17 -1.67 -.34 -.18 1.76 -.06 -.05 -.45 -.12 -.11 1.08 -1.21 -.07 -.18 -1.85 -.07 -.19 -1.98 -1.08 -.05 -.09 -.94 -.01 -.01 -.11 -.05 98 Overall Efficacy t -.06 1.20 1.51 Note Predictors: Ethnicity, Gender, Age, GPA, Pre-student teaching hours * p < 05, ** p < 01 Student teachers’ age was a significant negative predictor of efficacy for instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement in the posttest data (β = -.36, β = -.44, and β = -.42, respectively, p < 01) as well as their total scores of sense of efficacy (β = -.49, p < 01; see Table 5) Student teachers’ GPA still made significant negative independent contributions to predicting total scores of sense of efficacy in the posttest (β = -.25, p < 05) like their GPA was a modest predictor of total scores of sense of efficacy in the pretest Particularly, student teachers’ completed hours of pre-student teaching experience was a significant predictor in their instructional strategies (β = 29, p < 05), student engagement (β = 32, p < 05), and total scores of sense of efficacy (β = 30, p < 05) in the posttest, whereas this factor was not a significant contributor in the pretest The pre-student teaching field experiences mean short-term experiences, or practicum placements, are made in cooperation with area schools districts and vary every semester Students register for specific courses and receive credit for them For example, if students register for a CI 280 course, she or he is placed in a school classroom for a minimum of twenty-four hours during the semester Students attend weekly on-campus seminars to discuss their field experiences and complete assignments In the schools, students assist teachers in a variety of ways and observe classrooms in session Thus, student teachers’ variety of field experiences built up before starting their student teaching This multiple regression model as a whole in the posttest had statistically significant predictive capability, that is, regression significant was big enough (F = 3.24, p < 05; F = 3.27, p < 05; F = 4.12, p < 05; F = 5.32, p < 05) The value of R2 was 22 when | 86 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy efficacy for instructional strategies served as a dependent variable, 22 when efficacy for classroom management served as a dependent variable, 27 when efficacy for student engagement served as a dependent variable, and 32 when total efficacy served as a dependent variable in the posttest This means that the regression model respectively explained 22%, 22%, 27%, and 32% of each variance in the student teachers’ posttest mean efficacy Table Multiple regression analysis results of posttest predictors for student teachrs’ sense of efficacy Outcomes (Posttest) Instructional strategies Classroom management B β t -.03 -.02 -2.15 -.14 -.11 -.11 -.04 -2.31 -.42 -.42 -.36 -2.88** -.10 -.22 -.17 -.29 R F -.22 B β t Overall efficacy B β t B β t 3-.91 -.10 -.08 -.68 -.07 -.06 -.56 -.18 -1.44 -.38 -.16 -1.29 -.23 -.11 -.93 -.43 -.44 -3.59** -.43 -.42 -3.44** -.42 -.49 -4.17** -1.76 -.08 -.22 -1.73 -.06 -.17 -1.38 -.08 -.25 -2.09* -2.34* -.06 -.12 -1.99 -.16 -.32 -2.61* -.13 -.30 -2.57* -.22 3.24* Student engagement -.27 3.27* -.32 4.12** 5.32** Note Predictors: Ethnicity, Gender, Age, GPA, Pre-student teaching hours * p < 05, ** p < 01 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The purpose of this study was to examine changes in student teachers’ sense of efficacy in three areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of student teachers’ sense of efficacy before and after their student teaching practicum Furthermore, this study examined to what extent the variables of interest influenced the student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as total scores of their sense of efficacy before and after their student teaching practicum First, the result of this study showed that student teachers’ efficacy beliefs significantly increased over time (16 weeks) during their student teaching experience in all three areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement, as well as in total mean scores of student teachers’ sense of efficacy These findings are in line with those of Fives et al (2007) and Hoy and Spero (2005), who found | 87 | Oh & Seo that student teachers, regardless of grade level taught, demonstrated significant increases in their levels of efficacy over the course of the student teaching practicum Seo and Park (2011) found that early childhood preservice teachers’ economic education teaching efficacy increased over time during a 16 week economic education teaching-learning model Thus, it is imperative to provide plenty of opportunities for student teachers to participate in a supportive environment during their teaching experiences As Fives et al (2007) suggested, student teaching may be an efficacy building time and it may serve as a cushion for the efficacy drop in the first year of teaching This contention should be highlighted in the continuum of the results of some studies that novice teachers often enter the profession with high hopes about the kind of impact that they will be able to have on students’ lives, but encounter a painful “reality shock” because they are often faced with all the role demands and expectations encountered by experienced teachers (Kim & Chung, 2012; Weinstein, 1988) A moderately high level of expectation of reality shock was revealed during preservice teachers’ first year of teaching due to their career choice of the teaching profession (Kim & Chung, 2012) With regard to the teaching efficacy of first-year teachers, they often underestimate the complexity of the teaching task and their ability to manage many agendas at the same time (Hoy & Spero, 2005) Preservice teachers faced practical issues and conflicts as they implemented their lessons and interacted with the children and their cooperating teachers during their first full-time teaching experience in kindergarten classrooms (Han & Sohn, 2011) There is further need to follow-up on the levels of teaching efficacy perceived by student teachers to examine to what extent the students’ levels of teaching efficacy are in flux early in learning Additionally, student teachers’ total scores of sense of efficacy in the pretest were significantly related to total scores of sense of efficacy, instructional strategies, and student engagement in the posttest These results in this study indicated that student teachers who felt more confident in their teaching abilities before conducting their student teaching still experienced greater feelings of teaching efficacy after completing their student teaching These results also mean student teachers’ sense of efficacy showed stability over time This result provides implications to practice It is worth noting that self-efficacy beliefs tend to become fairly stable and resistant to change once set (Bandura, 1997) So, if it is true, it would behoove teacher educators and school leaders to provide preservice teachers the kinds of support and the variety of resources that would lead to the development of strong, resilient teaching efficacy beliefs over time before getting into student teaching experience The more student teachers feel confident in their teaching efficacy during teacher preparation programs in the early stage, the less depressed they feel in their teaching ability during student teaching period later | 88 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Coupled with the findings on the stability of the student teachers’ sense of efficacy over time, this study found that the student teachers’ completed hours of pre-student teaching experience was a significant predictor in their instructional strategies, student engagement, and total scores of sense of efficacy in the posttest, whereas this factor was not a significant contributor in the pretest Student teachers’ variety of field experiences built up before their student teaching were the important factors to improve their teaching efficacy belief These findings are in the same line with those of previous research which showed that one possible way to promote a more realistic sense of efficacy in preservice teachers is to provide them with mastery experience in the forms of tutoring, observations, field placement, or student teaching upon which to base their efficacy beliefs (Charalambous, Philippou, & Kyriakides, 2008; Fives et al., 2007; Knoblauch & Hoy, 2008; Mulholland & Wallace, 2001; Redmon, 2007) Given the importance of provision of master experience to student teachers, it is useful to note that enactive mastery experiences were the most influential sources when compared with other sources of information about self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) We found it interesting that all subjects’ levels of sense of efficacy significantly increased over time (16 weeks) during this meaningful full-semester student teaching period in all three areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement as well as in overall student teachers’ efficacy scores As Haverback and Parault (2008) argued, preservice teachers who had been more exposed to field experiences as their mastery experiences in the classroom had higher levels of teaching efficacy, as compared to their counterparts who did not have any field experiences Thus, it may be possible to extend the result of this study to other cultural settings That is preservice teachers with student teaching practicum experiences need to spend more hours in a variety of teaching situations to develop a more realistic sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement Field experience such as tutoring and observing young children might be the most influential variable in preservice teachers’ high level of teaching efficacy, applying beliefs and practices of their university learning in authentic settings While they initially see the child as a receiver of factual knowledge, they turn to believe that the child actively constructs knowledge and that an important component of literacy instruction is fostering student interest and motivation at the end of a field-based course semester From this point of view, field experiences provided in field-based blocks of courses should be essential components for rethinking curricular reform in effective teacher education programs (Fang & Ashely, 2004; Haverback & Parault, 2008; Linek et al., 1999; Worthy & Patterson, 2001) Future research needs to explore what it is about a field experience | 89 | Oh & Seo that enhances efficacy and how teacher educators can create real-world experiences that promote realistic efficacy beliefs because the variety of field experiences may have varying effects on preservice teachers’ efficacy (Haverback & Parault, 2008) In addition, student teachers’ GPA in this study was an important variable that impacts their teaching efficacy both in the pretest and in the posttest Along similar lines, the frequency of course attendance and the type and number of courses offered during teaching training programs were important sources of teaching efficacy in the Poulou (2007)’s study Thus, it is necessary for teacher educators to provide intriguing types of college courses to improve preservice teachers’ GPA during teacher education program In accordance, teacher educators need to consider all sources of information that influence student teachers’ sense of efficacy if student teachers’ efficacy is to be enhanced during their teacher education programs Greater knowledge of the antecedents of efficacy beliefs of teachers can assist teacher educators, principals, and other practitioners in fostering teachers’ sense of efficacy Although there are meaningful results demonstrated in this study, the results of this study are limited by the sample size and the fact that participants from only one teacher preparation program were included The different numbers of participants in the pretest and posttest, and that the modest sample size came from two different cohorts (Fall 2009 and Spring 2010) in one institution Thus, caution must be exercised in generalizing from the results based on this small sample of student teachers The results of this study invite further examination into antecedents of student teachers’ sense of efficacy, specifically about how these efficacy beliefs are formulated and sustained throughout the teaching career Longitudinal research designs following preservice teachers through their preparation program and the first year of teaching would allow researchers to observe the periods of flux and stability of teachers’ sense of efficacy Also, further research could also examine differences in the potential sources of teaching efficacy between student teachers and 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To what extent the factors of interest (e.g., ethnic, age, gender, GPA, pre -student teaching hours) impact student teachers’ sense of efficacy in the areas of instructional... to determine whether there was a significant change in the student teachers’ efficacy beliefs at the beginning of their student teaching practicum and at the end of the student teaching practicum. .. total scores of sense of efficacy in the posttest (r = 30) Additionally, student teachers’ total scores of | 84 | Changes in Student Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy sense of efficacy in the pretest was