Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine how much K-12 science teachers working in a virtual school experience a community of practice and how that experience affects personal science-teaching efficacy and science-teaching outcome expectancy. The study was rooted in theoretical frameworks from Lave and Wenger's (1991) community of practice and Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy beliefs. The researcher used three surveys to examine schoolteachers' experiences of a community of practice and science-teaching efficacy beliefs. The instrument combined Mangieri's (2008) virtual teacher demographic survey, Riggs and Enochs (1990) Science-teaching efficacy Beliefs Instrument-A (STEBI-A), and Cadiz, Sawyer, and Griffith's (2009) Experienced Community of Practice (eCoP) instrument. The results showed a significant linear statistical relationship between the science teachers' experiences of community of practice and personal science-teaching efficacy. In addition, the study found that there was also a significant linear statistical relationship between teachers' community of practice experiences and science-teaching outcome expectancy. The results from this study were in line with numerous studies that have found teachers who are involved in a community of practice report higher science-teaching efficacy beliefs (Akerson, Cullen, & Hanson, 2009; Fazio, 2009; Lakshmanan, Heath, Perlmutter, & Elder, 2011; Liu, Lee, & Lin, 2010; Sinclair, Naizer, & Ledbetter, 2010). The researcher concluded that school leaders, policymakers, and researchers should increase professional learning opportunities that are grounded in social constructivist theoretical frameworks in order to increase teachers' science efficacy.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Dissertations (EdD) -- Learning technologies; Science -- Study and teaching; Science teachers -- Training of; Science teachers -- Attitudes; Computer-assisted instruction
Date of Award
2014
School Affiliation
Graduate School of Education and Psychology
Department/Program
Education
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate
Faculty Advisor
Sparks, Paul;
Recommended Citation
Uzoff, Phuong Pham, "Virtual school teacher's science efficacy beliefs: the effects of community of practice on science-teaching efficacy beliefs" (2014). Theses and Dissertations. 507.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/507