Adversity quotient, science locus of control, and self-esteem as predictors of instructional performance of college biology teachers

Abstract

This study sought to determine whether adversity quotient, science locus of control, and self-esteem can predict the instructional performance of college biology teachers. Likewise, it identified personal, family, and school variables which influence biology teachers adversity quotient, science locus of control, and self-esteem. The study involves 41 biology teachers and 1,230 students from six learning institutions in Iloilo city during the first semester of school year 2009-2010. The researchers utilized the adversity quotient profile, science locus of control, self-esteem scale, and performance evaluation sheet to gather data. The study revealed that generally, the college biology teachers had "high" adversity quotient mean scores. "external" orientation of science performance. Furthermore, the result showed that males had significantly higher AQ mean scores than females. The mean score of biology teachers whose gross monthly income is between 10,001-15,000 pesos had significantly higher mean scores in their science locus of control orientation compared to biology teachers whose income bracket is between 25,001-30,000 pesos. Moreover, the latter group had a significantly lower mean score than biology teachers whose income is above 30,000 pesos. In terms of length of service, significantly higher mean scores were revealed in the SciLoc orientation of biology teachers whose length of service is between 12-17 years. None of the antecedent variables showed significantly relationship with the self- esteem of the college biology teachers. The Stepwise Multiple Regression analysis result showed that gender is a significant relationship with the self-esteem of the college biology teachers. It accounts for 9.3% of the total variance of the adversity quotient. Age and length of service are significant predictors of science locus of service accounted for 10.5% of the variance in SciLoc scores. No significant predictors were found for the self-esteem of the college biology teachers. Furthermore, it was found out that adversity quotient is a significant predictor of instructional performance of college biology teachers. It accounts for almost half (49.4%) of the total variance in instructional performance. Thus, the "High" AQ of the biology teachers implies that they were able to show good control inside the classroom, manage well the classroom environment, able to involve the students in the learning process, and show commitment towards their teaching profession.