Reflection of A Program Evaluation Study Related to Teaching Self-efficacy on Practice
Project no. 20338 · Status: Kapanmış · 2018
Summary
In Turkey, the results of program evaluation studies are not usually announced to the public or stakeholders in detail. However, sharing such results with the decision makers, implementers and audiences can be effective in improving the program. Another critical problem generally faced in curriculum studies in Turkey is the failure to monitor the degree that evaluation results are reflected on the program. Hence, it is observed that evaluation results are rarely taken into consideration in the development process of teacher-training programs. Therefore, there is a need to examine the implications of the discussions over evaluation results by program stakeholders on program implementations. In the present study, the results of an evaluation study on the effects of preservice teacher training programs on teaching self-efficacy were shared with the stakeholders and discussions were held on the results and their suggestions for developing the program. It was aimed to determine the state of development of the program in terms of the sources of teaching self-efficacy and whether the operational program significantly affected teacher candidates’ teaching self-efficacy upon this sharing and discussions. To this end, the main research question is that "How are the results of the evaluation study carried out in the Ege University Faculty of Education in the 2015-2016 academic year reflecting on teacher candidates' perceptions of teaching self-efficacy and program applications? The holistic multi-case study design was employed in the present study which was conducted as a continuation to a study that evaluated the seven undergraduate programs of a faculty of education in terms of improving the preservice teachers’ sense of efficacy in the 2015-2016 academic year. Quantitative data was collected by the one-group pretest-posttest quasi experimental research design. For the quantitative data, 256 preservice teachers attending the same programs in the 2018-2019 academic year composed the study group of the present study. The data was collected using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale, which was originally developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001) adapted into Turkish language by Capa Cakiroglu and Sarikaya (2005) as the pretest. Afterwards, the results of the program evaluation study conducted in the 2015-2016 academic year and the pretest results of the present study were shared with the instructors (n = 43) and preservice teachers (n = 254) through the 14 panels held separately for the seven programs. As the posttest, the preservice teachers were given the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale and the 30-item preservice teacher questionnaire developed by the researchers concerning the improvement of the program in terms of the sources of teaching self-efficacy. The quantitative data were analyzed using percentages (%), dependent samples t test, independent samples t test, One-Way ANOVA, Mixed ANOVA and MANOVA. Content analysis was used on the qualitative data consisting of discussions and opinions in the sharing panels of program evaluation results. A significant difference was found between the teaching self-efficacy pretest and posttest total scores of the preservice teachers. However, differences of pretest-posttest total scores did not significantly vary by participation in the program evaluation sharing panel. Mean total pretest scores and mean total posttest scores of the preservice teachers who participated in the sharing panels were found to be lower than mean total pretest scores and mean total posttest scores of those who did not participate in the panels in both measurements. No significant difference was observed between the mean total teaching self-efficacy posttest scores of the preservice teachers who did and did not participate in the panels. The preservice teachers stated that the program had improved in terms of many of the items on the questionnaire. The difference between preservice teachers' perception of teaching self-efficacy pre-test and post-test total score averages is not statistically significant compared to teacher-training programs. According to qualitative findings, sharing panels provided the instructors with the opportunity to review and improve their program applications in terms of the sources of teaching self-efficacy perception. It also helped preservice teachers to learn empowerment strategies in terms of sources of self-efficacy. These results may imply that the sharing panels held for the instructors affected self-efficacy perceptions of all the preservice teachers. Teacher trainers could be recommended to evaluate the preservice training programs systematically, discuss over their results and use the conclusions they draw from these discussions to improve the program. It is also important to guide stakeholders in using evaluation results in program applications after sharing in the panels. The process of reflecting the program evaluation results into practice can be examined in more detail through observations and interviews. Key Words: Pre-service teacher education, program evaluation, program evaluation panel, teaching self-efficacy.