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 theWilcoxon 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.