What Influences Attitudes and Confidence in Teaching Physics and Technology Topics? An Investigation in Kindergarten and Primary-School Trainee Teachers

Angelika Pahl and Reinhard Tschiesner
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Angelika Pahl: Institute of Primary Education, University of Teacher Education Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Reinhard Tschiesner: Faculty of Education, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, 39042 Brixen, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: This study investigated the correlations of general knowledge, vocational interests, and personality with trainee teachers’ attitudes and perceived capabilities in teaching physics and technology topics in kindergarten and primary school. A quantitative survey was composed using the Nature–Human–Society questionnaire, the general knowledge test BOWIT, the general interest structure test AIST-R, and the 10-item Big Five Inventory. The sample consisted of 196 female trainee teachers for kindergarten and primary school, and the results showed that only a few trainee teachers favoured teaching physics and technology topics. The bivariate analyses indicated that investigative and realistic interests were highly correlated with their confidence in teaching physics and technology topics, followed by significant relationships with possessing general knowledge in science and technology. The relationships with personality, especially neuroticism and extraversion, were also evident, but they were not as strong. The results were further differentiated in various subgroups (i.e., a group who favoured teaching physics and technology topics versus a group who did not, as well as a group with the typical interest profile of kindergarten and primary-school teachers versus a group with a social and investigative interest profile), which provided additional insights.

Keywords: teacher; kindergarten; primary school; physics; technology; knowledge; interest; personality; attitude; self-efficacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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