Prospective Teachers' Self‐Efficacies in Project Development: Scale Development and Review by Variables

ABSTRACT This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale to determine prospective teachers' self‐efficacy regarding the project development process. In addition, it was explored how prospective teachers' levels of self‐efficacy in the project development process vary based on gender, teaching grade level, student academic achievement, and the academic department in which they teach. The research was carried out on a total of 1040 prospective teachers in two separate study groups. A draft scale of 42 items was created by scanning the field literature and taking expert opinions, and as a result of the analyses, this scale was simplified to consist of 18 items distributed across 4 factors. Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis were carried out, and Cronbach's α internal consistency was calculated. These findings have revealed that the developed scale is valid and reliable. As a result of the research, it was observed that there was a similarity in terms of variables in prospective teachers' self‐efficacy for project development, however, males scored higher in the difficulties and obstacles sub‐factor; upper‐class students scored higher in research and presentation skills, and students with high academic achievement scored higher in the total score and research skills sub‐factor. This study contributes to the teacher education literature by presenting a new measurement tool to evaluate prospective teachers' self‐efficacy for project development. In addition, by revealing the differences in self‐efficacy levels according to various variables, this study provides information that can guide the development of teacher training programs.