Pre-service Elementary Teachers\u27 Self-efficacy Beliefs About Science Using Critical Incident Technique: A Case Study Approach.

The primary goal of this case study using qualitative and quantitative methods was to investigate pre-service elementary teachers’ initial self-efficacy beliefs about science and science teaching by exploring the K-12 science experiences of these prospective elementary teachers. Of the 108 participants who completed the science teaching efficacy belief survey (STEBI-B) (Enochs & Riggs, 1990), 12 participants were selected to be interviewed using Flanagan’s (1954) critical incident technique. Participants were asked to share their past positive and negative incidents during their K- 12 years with science and science teachers. They were also asked to report how past incidents affected them at present and how they believed they would impact them as future teachers of science in elementary schools. The past positive and negative incidents were analyzed using Bandura’s (1977) four sources of self-efficacy (mastery, vicarious, social persuasion, and physiological/emotional) and by school level; and the impact of the past science incidents on the subjects’ present and future beliefs as science teachers were categorized. The results of this study revealed that pre-service elementary teachers’ self-efficacy and beliefs were largely influenced by their past experiences with science in the K-12 years, and mastery experiences dominated as a source of self-efficacy. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research were made based on the findings of the study