Can You Tube it? Providing chemistry teachers with technological tools and enhancing their self-efficacy beliefs

Abstract

The goal of this research was to examine the change in the skills, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and self-efficacy beliefs of chemistry teachers regarding video editing and using YouTube videos in high-school chemistry lessons, as a result of a professional development program that focused on editing YouTube videos and the accompanying teaching pedagogy. Sixteen experienced chemistry teachers participated in a professional development course regarding video editing skills and the use of videos in chemistry teaching in Israel. Research tools consisted of (1) a pre-post questionnaire, (2) interviews with teachers, (3) an analysis of the videos they edited (which were part of the course assignment), and (4) follow-up interviews conducted ten months after the end of the course. It was found that teachers improved their skills and developed a unique TPACK that combines videos with chemistry teaching needs. Self-efficacy beliefs were found to be high for most of the teachers: they all trusted in their ability to integrate videos in their chemistry teaching but not all of them were confident in their video editing skills.

Differences and Developments in Attitudes and Self-Efficacy of Prospective Chemistry Teachers Concerning the Use of ICT in Education

“…The effective and successful integration of ICT in education depends upon a number of factors, which include aspects of the teacher's personality, like personal attitudes and beliefs about one's level of self-efficacy (Albion, 2001;Ertmer, 1999;Joo, 1999;Lim, 2007, Blonder et al, 2013. Baron and Byrne (1991) describe attitudes as general considerations of people about themselves, about other people, and about objects.…”

The Impact of Science-Fiction Movies on the Self- Efficacy Perceptions of Their Science Literacy of Science Teacher Candidates

“…This may be related to the fact that students examined science-fiction movies, which they had already seen in their daily lives, from a different perspective during their study, that they considered them in the context of key elements of science literacy, and that their awareness of their levels of science literacy and beliefs about teaching science gradually strengthened. In their study on a group of high school chemistry teachers, Blonder et al (2013) developed teachers' self-efficacy perceptions of the science of chemistry by means of videos. In that study, teachers first watched ready-made YouTube videos and then they made their own videos within the framework of their discipline.…”

Attitudes among chemistry teachers towards increasing personal competencies in applying ICT

“…On the other hand, efficient use of digital technologies in the teaching process remains to be a problem and a challenge the teachers are facing [17,18], as they tend to perceive technology only as a tool for passing on the education contents and not as a tool for designing curricula with the aim to use technological experience to improve the teaching process [19,20]. Efficient integration of technologies into the teaching and learning process in a classroom is thus a rather demanding task for teachers [21] and a long-lasting process [22].…”

“…The TPACK is not sufficient for the actual implementation of new technology in schools, but it is required that teachers have a positive attitude towards technologies [29,30] and believe in their own ability to integrate new technologies in the teaching process, having thus strong self-efficacy beliefs [19,[29][30][31]. A teacher's self-efficacy was defined by Tschannen-Moran et al [32] as "a teacher's belief in her or his ability to organize and execute the courses of action required to successfully accomplish a specific teaching task in a particular context".…”

“…A teacher's self-efficacy was defined by Tschannen-Moran et al [32] as "a teacher's belief in her or his ability to organize and execute the courses of action required to successfully accomplish a specific teaching task in a particular context". It is thus essential, when designing a model of professional development of teachers in the field of ICT implementation, to provide teachers with the opportunities not only to practice their technological skills, but also to understand the need to integrate the contents, methods, and technologies [33,34] and develop a teacher's self-efficacy [19]. The research indicates that teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about using technology for teaching are directly related to their practice [35].…”