Özet:

The purpose of this study is to examine the change in elementary pre-service teachers’ science teaching self-efficacy beliefs after completing a constructivist science methods course. A total of 91 (72 female, 19 male) third year pre-service teachers from Kocaeli University Elementary Education Department participated in the study. Participants completed the Science Teaching Self-Efficacy Beliefs survey before and after taking the science methods course. The pre-test and post-test scores were compared using paired samples t-test. Correlation analysis was conducted in order to determine if pre-service teachers’ beliefs and the change in their beliefs are related to their academic performance. Findings showed that pre-service teachers’ Personal Science Teaching Efficacy and Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy scores significantly improved after completing the science methods course regardless of their academic performance. It was emphasized that prospective teachers need to have positive and authentic experiences in their college science courses.

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