Improving self-efficacy in the teaching of prospective mathematics teachers by involving them in the online teacher community

Abstract

Self-efficacy in teaching is very important for prospective teachers. Prospective teachers who have good self-efficacy inteaching can carry out the profession as a teacher well in the future. This study aims to improve the self-efficacy in teaching of prospective mathematics teachers by involving them in the online teacher community. A total of 58 prospective mathematics teachers were included as samples. They were divided into two groups. The experimental group attended micro teaching courses while involved in the online teacher community, on the other hand the control group attended a micro teaching course while assisting the model teacher. Self-efficacy in teaching was measured by a questionnaire at the beginning of the semester as a pre-test and at the end of the semester as a post-test. The results showed that prospective mathematics teacher who took micro teaching courses while involved in the online teacher community experienced a higher increase in self-efficacy compared to those who attended micro teaching courses while assisting the model teacher. These results indicate that the association of prospective mathematics teachers in the online teacher community has a positive effect on increasing their self-efficacy in teaching. In-depth interviews indicate that a combination of synchronous and asynchronous communication plays a role in increasing their self-efficacy. Computer-mediated communication that is context-free and not too bound by social conventions greatly helps increase the self-efficacy of prospective teachers.

Effectiveness of In-Service Elementary School Teacher Professional Development MOOC: An Experimental Research

“…According to our findings Greek in-service elementary school teachers improved their self-efficacy beliefs thus going in line with Aji and Khan (2019), Gosselin et al (2010), Mertasari andCandiasa (2020), andYoo (2016) who reported the same findings. However, our results do not comply with the findings of Wang and Zhu (2019) who reported no change in undergraduate chemistry students' self-efficacy.…”

“…They mainly investigate the enhancing teachers' professional development through issues of improvement, such as content knowledge, beliefs, and teaching practices of in-service and pre-service teachers, take place in different countries and use quantitative and qualitative approaches (Gordillo et al, 2019;Menon & Banerjee, 2019;Rahimi et al, 2018). Nevertheless, only a narrow range of studies have focused on the effectiveness of TPD-MOOCs (Gamage et 3 / 14 al., 2016;Reddy & Pabolu, 2019) and very limited studies investigate the MOOCs impact on teachers' selfefficacy beliefs (Aji & Khan, 2019;Gosselin et al, 2010;Mertasari & Candiasa, 2020;Wang & Zhu, 2019;Yoo, 2016). Specifically, Aji and Khan (2019) measured the self-efficacy beliefs of 16 math's and 18 science teachers in the USA, who participated in a workshop related with teaching math's and physics concepts to middle school students.…”

“…They advocated that the participants improved and maintained their content knowledge and science teaching efficacy beliefs and they were satisfied with their belonging to an online community. Similarly, Mertasari and Candiasa (2020) investigated through a questionnaire the self-efficacy of 58 pre-service mathematics teachers in Indonesia who participated in an online learning community. They indicated that the participants improved their selfefficacy.…”

Exploring Teachers' Views on the Impact of an Online Distance Learning Course on Their Self-Efficacy Beliefs

“…In addition, the participants note the effort that the teacher makes influences the learning outcomes, students' achievements in biological concepts are related to teacher effectiveness but teachers cannot generally be blamed for the student's achievements. The above findings are consistent with the findings of Aji and Khan (2019), Gosselin et al (2010), Mertasari andCandiasa (2020), andYoo (2016), who argue that the improvement of teachers' self-efficacy in other fields and highlight the potential of online courses as a model of professional development of teachers.…”

“…Studies report improvement of teachers' self-efficacy they participate in professional development courses (Mulholland et al, 2004;Kreischer-Gajewicz, 2019), which over the last decade have increasingly been offered in the form of online distance learning courses (Aji & Khan, 2019;Mertasari & Candiasa, 2020;Yoo, 2016). These courses are facilitated by the digital revolution and enhance opportunities to teachers for utilization of technology platforms, mobile devices, social media, and access to digital educational content and OERs.…”