Pre-service Teacher Self-Efficacy in the Use of Technology for Teaching Mathematics

Abstract

Self-efficacy has proved to be a powerful predictor of performances that people plan to attain a specific goal. The purpose of this article is report to what extent self-efficacy of pre-service teachers in the use of technology for teaching mathematics is transformed, during a 64-hour course designed to promote self-efficacy. The sample consisted of sixteen teachers in training who self-completed the self-efficacy measurement instrument “Preparation in the use of technology to teach mathematics” which consists of a battery of 6 dimensions and 23 ordinal variables in the scale of 0 to 10. Two measurements were carried out, the first one at the beginning and the second one right after the course. Nonparametric tests were performed for data analysis: Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, the Kruskal-Wallis test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Wilcoxon test. The results indicate age, professional experience, and gender as non-significant variables on pre-service teacher self-efficacy in the use of technology for teaching mathematics. Statistically, there were significant differences between self-efficacy ranges before and after course implementation. Pre-service teachers reported feeling prepared to use technology for teaching. However, they consider necessary to have more training experiences.

Keywords:
Training needs; Self-efficacy; Technology course; Case study; Quantitative data and analysis