A Closer Examination of TPACK-Self-efficacy Construct: Modeling Elementary Pre-service Science Teachers’ TPACK-Self efficacy

Abstract

TPACK (Technological pedagogical content knowledge) is a useful framework for integrating technology into teaching for meaningful understanding. Since its introduction by Mishra and Kohler in 2006, there is no consensus in the results of the studies examining structure of TPACK. Recently, some studies have focused on TPACK self-efficacy (TPACK-SE) beliefs. We aimed to validate factor structure of TPACK-SE and reveal the relations among the components. A structural equation model (SEM) formed in light of TPACK- SE literature was tested with LISREL 8.8. The participants were 665 senior elementary pre-service science teachers (467 Females, 198 Males) from 7 colleges in Turkey. The model had acceptable fit. In the model, in light of the literature, direct relations of core components (e.g., PK, CK, and TK) to TPACK-SE were not proposed. Instead, indirect relations through interaction components (e.g., PCK) were hypothesized. All hypothesized relations got significant path coefficients. Second, indirect relations of CK, TK, and PK were also significant. Regarding the amount of explained variances on all dependent constructs (R2), CK, PK, TK, PCK, TCK and TPK explained 87% of the variance of TPACK-SE. Implications for technology integration in science teacher education were proposed.