Junior High School Science teachers' self-efficacy toward teaching thinking skills: Basis for the development of in-service training courses

Abstract

This descriptive-correlational study aimed to determine the relationship between Junior High School science teachers' self-efficacy and teaching thinking skills. The respondents were thirty-two (32) Junior High School science teachers of rural public high schools in Panay Island for S.Y. 2021-2022. The researcher-made and expert-validated instrument, the Teaching Thinking Skills Scale (TTSS) (x = 0.95), was used to determine the Junior High School science teachers' level of teaching thinking skills. The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-A) by Enochs and Riggs (1990) — which consists of two factors, personal science teaching efficacy belief (PSTEB) (x = 0.92) and science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE) (x = 0.77) — was adopted and used to measure the Junior High School science teachers' level of self-efficacy. Mean and standard deviation were used for descriptive statistics, while Pearson's product-moment correlation set at 0.05 alpha level was used for inferential statistics. Results of the study revealed that the Junior High School science teachers' level of self-efficacy in terms of PSTEB was significantly higher than that in terms of STOE, described as "moderate". In terms of the level of teaching thinking skills, problem-solving skills and creative thinking skills obtained significantly higher mean than critical thinking skills and decision-making skills. The result of Pearson's product-moment correlation indicated a very weak positive correlation between Junior High School science teacher's self-efficacy and teaching thinking skills. All these led to the development of the In-Service Training Design for Junior High School Science Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Teaching Thinking Skills as the output of this study. As the In-Service Training for Junior High School science teachers equips them for the implementation of new modalities as well as new ways of addressing the challenges brought by the pandemic,, the teachers were expected to be able to identify and critically evaluate their level of self-efficacy and teaching thinking skills that can bring significant changes to the teaching and learning process. With this, the Department of Education may conduct additional trainings to reskill and upskill teaching competence among science teachers, specifically on self-efficacy and teaching thinking skills, which in turn will help improve the quality of education in the country and bring new perspectives to science teaching in the K to 12 curriculum.