Social Studies Teacher Candidates’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

Abstract

This study aims at examining social studies teacher candidates’ self-efficacy beliefs for technological pedagogical content knowledge through multiple variables and presenting new perspectives for researchers and practitioners. A causal-comparative research design was adopted for this study. Among non-random sampling methods, convenience sampling was used to select participants. The sample of the study consists of 349 3rd and 4th year college students (teacher candidates) studying at three state universities in Turkey’s Central Anatolia Region in the 2018–2019 academic year. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) scale was used for collecting data in this study. T-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to analyze data. According to the obtained results, the social studies teacher candidates’ self-efficacy beliefs for technological pedagogical content knowledge can be considered above average. No significant differences were found between participants’ self-efficacy beliefs for TPACK and some independent variables such as gender, year in college, GPA score, personal computer ownership, and Instructional Technology and Material Development course score. On the other hand, it was determined that perceived technology competency and the use of content sharing platforms for professional purposes were important predictors for social studies teacher candidates’ self-efficacy beliefs about TPACK.