Investigating preservice teachers’ science content knowledge attitude and efficacy beliefs toward science teaching in selected colleges of education

Abstract

The study focused on finding out the science teaching efficacy beliefs, science content knowledge and attitudes of preservice teachers in Colleges of Education in Ghana. A survey was used to gather data from a sample of 100 preservice teachers in two colleges of education in Ghana. A questionnaire consisting of a science teaching efficacy belief instrument (STEBI-B) science teaching attitude scale and a test were used to collect quantitative data respectively. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics functions of SPSS. The main finding were that generally the preservice teachers had strong efficacy beliefs, positive attitudes towards science teaching but had low science content knowledge on some selected topics from the basic school integrated science syllabus. The study found that weak science backgrounds of the preservice teachers contributed to their low science content knowledge. A number of recommendations were made including revision of the programmes of the college of educations to boost the content knowledge levels of the preservice teachers,