An investigation of pre-service science and mathematics teachers personal growth initiative

Büyükgöze H.

Acta Didactica Napocensia, vol.8, no.3, pp.47-54, 2015 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 8 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Journal Name: Acta Didactica Napocensia
  • Journal Indexes: ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Directory of Open Access Journals, ERIHPlus
  • Page Numbers: pp.47-54
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The current paper primarily aims to investigate pre-service science and mathematics teachers’ personal growth initiative levels. The second aim of the study is to examine whether participants’ initiative levels differ in relation to their gender, grade, department, perceived academic achievement, and willingness to attend graduate education after graduation. The study group consists of 212 pre-service teachers (156 female, 56 male). 80 of them attend science education program, whereas 79 of them attend primary mathematics education and 53 of them attend secondary mathematics education program in two different state universities located in Aksaray and Ankara, Turkey. The participants were surveyed by “The Personal Growth Initiative Scale-PGIS” developed by Robitschek (1998) and adapted into Turkish by Akın and Anlı (2011). The data collected during the spring term of 2014/15 academic year. The construct validity of the scale was verified by confirmatory factor analysis, and the reliability was examined by calculating the Cronbach alpha value of the PGIS. The results showed that (1) pre-service teachers have moderate levels of personal growth initiative, (2) their PGI levels statistically differ in relation to their willingness to attend graduate education, and (3) juniors have higher levels of personal growth initiative than freshman and sophomores.