Creating Confidence Through Inquiry: Connecting Preservice Elementary Teacher Self-Efficacy to Inquiry-Based Science Practices

Self-efficacy plays a key role in determining teaching practices. Therefore, concerns regarding the low science self-efficacy beliefs held by many elementary teachers have raised questions about the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs. Previous research has been restricted to labeling preservice elementary teachers as having high, medium, or low science teaching self-efficacy. Recently, there have been few efforts to clearly distinguish preservice elementary teachers’ subject-specific lack of confidence in teaching science, particularly in the subject area of NGSS-aligned inquiry-based science instruction. This study aims to investigate preservice elementary teachers’ science self-efficacy using a mixed-method research design. The participants include students enrolled in the elementary science teaching methods classes at Northeastern Illinois University. Quantitative data will be collected using the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument for pre-service teachers, or STEBI-B, as created by Enochs and Riggs. Additional qualitative data will be measured based on lesson-specific questions related to the creation of a required 5E lesson plan and the preservice teachers’ confidence levels during the creation process. The goal of this research is to identify content-specific science teaching anxieties, specifically regarding 5E inquiry lesson implementation and to correlate them to positive teacher education methods course experiences