Determining the Relationship between Preschool Teachers’ Attitudes towards Science Teaching and Self-efficacy Beliefs in Terms of Various Variables

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between preschool teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and self-efficacy beliefs and to examine them in terms of various variables. The research was conducted in the years 2018–2019 using a survey. The study included 113 female and eight male preschool teachers who worked in state or private schools in Turkey. All participated voluntarily. In this study, the “Scale of Attitudes toward Science Teaching” (AST) and “Science Teaching Self-Efficacy Beliefs Scale” (SEB) were used. Both scales used five-point Likert type items. After the scales were applied, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 randomly selected teachers and five open-ended questions developed by the researchers were asked. In the light of the findings obtained from the study, it was observed that pre-school teachers’ attitudes toward science teaching and science self-efficacy beliefs did not differ according to gender and professional experience. In addition, there was a positive relationship between teachers’ scores obtained from the AST and SEB, that is, science attitudes and science self-efficacy beliefs were related positively. In other words, teachers who have positive attitude toward science had high self-efficacy beliefs. Learning environments should be prepared to conduct science activities effectively in accordance with different methods and techniques.