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Studies on anxiety about teaching science in preservice elementary teachers
Author(s) -
Westerback Mary E.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660210908
Subject(s) - anxiety , psychology , staffing , grading (engineering) , mathematics education , trait anxiety , test anxiety , developmental psychology , medicine , psychiatry , civil engineering , nursing , engineering
During a sequence of science content courses designed for elementary teachers, anxiety about teaching science as measured by the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory was reduced. Each study: 1977–; 1978, 1978–; 1979, 1979–; 1980, and 1980–; 1981, was a separate descriptive study. The overall patterns were similar in all four years. Initial anxiety about teaching science was high and changed in a positive direction in all studies. Variations from year to year were attributed to staffing arrangements, grading practices and course sequences. Both the X and Y forms of the STAI were used. There appears to be a high degree of relationship between them, but the Y form was preferable because it is more reflective of anxiety than depression and has better psychometric properties.