The relation of teacher efficacy to students' trigonometry self - effiacy and trigonometry achievement

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship between teacher efficacy to student trigonometry self-efficacy and student trigonometry achievement. Teacher efficacy was searched through three different variables: general teaching efficacy, mathematics teaching efficacy and trigonometry teaching efficacy. The sample of this study consisted of 16 mathematics teachers (n1=16) and their tenth grade students (n2=571) from seven different schools in Istanbul. The teachers completed Teachers‟ Sense of Efficacy Scale and Self Efficacy Beliefs toward Teaching Mathematics Scale and students completed Student Trigonometry Self-Efficacy Scale and Students Trigonometry Achievement Test. Also, there were semi-structured short interviews with teachers on their trigonometry teaching experiences, in order to study their trigonometry teaching efficacy. According to the interview findings they were categorized as having high trigonometry teaching efficacy and low trigonometry teaching efficacy. No significant correlation was found between general teaching efficacy and mathematics teaching efficacy with student variables of student trigonometry self-efficacy and student trigonometry achievement. The t-test results showed that students of teachers having high trigonometry teaching efficacy get higher scores on trigonometry self- efficacy scale than the students of teachers having low trigonometry teaching efficacy. Between the students‟ achievement test scores, on the other hand, no significant difference was found.