Paper Presentation 1
room KA 102
Study about self-efficacy of teachers in training in their performance as science teachers
Hernández del Barco, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain Cañada-Cañada, Florentina, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain Dávila Acedo, Maria Antonia, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
At the third international conference “Educating the educators” we want to contribute with the initial stage of a doctoral thesis. We have studied the self-efficacy of 48 teachers training when they teach sciences and we have studied the differences by gender and by the background in sciences (according to the previous studies). We have done a study by survey with the students of the second year of the Degree in Primary Education and we have analyzed the data with SPSS. As results, we didn’t find any significant differences by gender in the self-efficacy when they teach any content of Physics, Maths, Biology or Geology, only in one topic of Chemistry. However men always feel more skilled to teach any scientific contents that women. We didn’t find any significant differences according to the scholar background.
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Paper Presentation 2
room KA 102
Preparing to lead a learning community: A study of mathematics and science CPD leaders in Malta
Farrugia, Josette, Faculty of Education, University of Malta, Msida, Malta Bezzina, Stephen, Ministry for Education and Employment, Malta, Floriana, Malta Galea, Mariella, Ministry for Education and Employment, Malta, Floriana, Malta Calleja, James, Faculty of Education, University of Malta, Msida, Malta Buhagiar, Michael, Faculty of Education, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
This presentation reports a study focusing on the needs and experiences of a group of continuing professional development (CPD) leaders. These leaders facilitated teacher learning communities during a six-month programme as part of the MaSDiV (Supporting Mathematics and Science teachers in addressing Diversity and promoting fundamental Values) project focusing on the use of inquiry-based learning (IBL) for addressing cultural and achievement-related diversity, using real-life contexts. In preparation for this role, CPD leaders participated in a specially designed course. The course attempted to introduce leaders to IBL, to the main concepts behind the programme and also to help them develop skills needed to lead teachers. The study investigated whether the course design was effective in facilitating the acquisition of the intended knowledge and skills and in providing adequate learning support to participating teachers. Pre- and post- CPD questionnaires were distributed to all participating leaders. Overall, the design of the course was considered to be effective for creating and cultivating communities of learners. It provided opportunities to reflect, share, discuss and collaborate with colleagues as well as exposure to novel pedagogical approaches. Some CPD leaders felt the need for further collaborative professional learning opportunities. A number of challenges were also reported.
