Exploring University Professors’ Perceptions of NSTA Learning Resources and Their Impact on Preservice Teacher Self-Efficacy in Science Instruction

Literature suggests that K-12 science learning and teacher preparation coursework play an essential role in shaping how preservice teachers view their level of self-efficacy in science instruction. Preservice teachers do not feel prepared to facilitate the learning of content that they are not comfortable with, and many have lower levels of science content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge which can impact feelings of self-efficacy in science instruction. This exploratory case study focuses on exploring how university professors perceive the resources from the National Science Teaching Association's (NSTA) website affect their preservice elementary teachers' self-efficacy in science instruction. Specifically, the study aims to understand professors' views on how these resources impact preservice teachers' feelings of self-efficacy in three main areas: science content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and overall self-efficacy in science teaching. Data were collected through questionnaires and follow-up interviews from four university professors in diverse teaching contexts who use the NSTA resources in their science methods courses. Findings suggest that professors perceived improvements in their preservice teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, as well as their feelings of self-efficacy, as a result of using and interacting with the NSTA resources as the primary learning tool in their methods courses. Findings on perceived improvements in preservice teachers’ science content knowledge were inconclusive. Implications for teacher education programs and the National Science Teaching Association are presented. Further research is recommended to collect input that includes preservice teachers’ perceptions of the NSTA resources and to elicit feedback from a larger and more diverse participant pool. Additional studies that employ an expanded interview protocol and studies that examine longitudinal outcomes based on the use of the NSTA resources as preservice teachers move from their coursework into full-time classroom teaching are also needed.