Evidence that science locus of control orientation can be modified through instruction

Abstract

A desire to foster enduring, positive attitudes toward science teaching among elementary school teachers led to study of self‐perceptions. On the basis of evidence for strong links between locus of control orientation and attitudes, an attempt was made to enhance internality through instruction. A quasiexperimental research strategy was employed to compare the effects of two instructional treatments, with pretest measures being used to check the initial equivalence of treatment groups, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) being used to test treatment effects. Both treatments incorporated strategies known to have positive effects on attitudes, but the experimental treatment was novel in its emphasis on self‐management, goal clarification, and individualized course expectations. There was found by ANCOVA to be a significant (p ≦ 0.05) difference in science locus of control (SciLOC) orientation between groups following treatment, with subjects exposed to the experimental treatment exhibiting greater internality. Quantitative comprehension and subject age were employed as covariates of SciLOC orientation, and subject gender was employed as a moderator variable. Though the treatment effect is small, accounting for 3% of the variance in SciLOC orientation, control orientation is shown susceptible to educational intervention. These results encourage attention to teacher attitudes from a rather new perspective, and they raise several interesting research questions regarding instructional methods and the long‐term effects of enhancing internality.

Job stress and locus of control in teachers: comparisons between samples from the United States and Zimbabwe

“…Programmes based upon individualistic cultural values aimed at increasing teacher internality (e.g. Hall et al 1997;Haury 1985) in order to reduce teacher stress would appear to have little relevance in Zimbabwe and, by extension, in collectivistic cultures given that Zimbabwean teacher job stress was unrelated to their LOC. Rather, Zimbabwean teachers' stress appears to be more related to their society's lack of economic resources.…”

“…Teachers with an external LOC have often been the target of intervention designed to increase their internality (e.g. Haury 1985). Moreover, LOC theory has been long criticised for being overly simplistic in conceptualising a linear continuum from internal to external, for failing to recognise the effect of social and cultural experiences upon an individual's orientation and predicting that maladjustment will be universally associated with an external orientation.…”

“…Western intervention studies based on LOC theory have sought to increase teachers' internality by emphasising self-management, the need to clarify goals, and individualised course expectations (e.g. Hall et al 1997;Haury 1985). Objectives like these are consistent with the tendency within individualistic cultures to regulate their distress without outside assistance (Friedlmeier and Trommsdorff 1999).…”

Learning logs: A classroom practice for enhancing scientific sense making

“…Self-efficacy appraisal, or what a person feels capable of accomplishing in a particular situation, results from a combination of feedback from past performance, observing the accomplishments of others, and physiologic manifestations (Bandura, 1986). Perceptions about locus of control arise from individual beliefs about aptitudes, relationships between means and ends, and whether control over learning is exerted from within or imposed from without (Haury, 1988;Rotter, 1966). Outcome expectancy beliefs, the perceived probabilities of achieving particular goals, stem from how people interpret cause and effect relationships, and the amount of value they attach to the product of their efforts.…”

Enseigner les sciences de la nature au primaire : perspective de l’enseignant

“…Sur le plan plus théorique, les attitudes sont reliées au lieu de contrôle des enseignants à l'égard de l'enseignement des sciences et il est à cet effet possible d'intervenir pour augmenter leur degré d'internalité 7 (Haury, 1988). Il appert que la définition traditionnelle que les chercheurs attribuent aux attitudes envers l'enseignement des sciences se limite à l'objet d'enseignement et qu'elle escamote ainsi d'autres composantes reliées à l'action d'enseigner ou au contexte d'enseignement (Ajzen et Fishbein, 1977).…”