Prospective Science Teachers’ Level of Self-efficacy for Teaching Science Online and its Relationship to Their Perceptions of Education Technology Courses ... A Study at Beni-Suef University

Abstract

The Faculties of Education in Egypt seek to develop student teachers' skills for using technology in teaching their subjects through studying education technology courses. Since the arrival of Covid-19, the ability to teach online has become a necessity. The current study aimed to reveal prospective science teachers' level of self-efficacy for teaching science online. The study sample consisted of (253) prospective science teachers who graduated in 2020 from the Primary and General Education Divisions at the Faculty of Education, Beni-Suef University. A five-point Likert-scale was created for this study. The scale included (44) phrases belonging to four dimensions of skills: using online technology, using online pedagogy, managing online behaviour, and identifying online science content. The study results showed that the prospective science teachers in the two divisions had a very low level of self-efficacy for teaching science online. The results also showed that there was no correlation between the prospective science teachers' level of self-efficacy for teaching science online, and their perceptions of the education technology courses they studied during their preparation programme. Based on the findings, the researchers recommend the necessity of practically training student teachers on teaching science online through education technology and science teaching methods courses.