Poster #54 - Investigating Metacognitive Awareness’ Role in Early Science Education Among Head Start Teachers

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

Purpose and Background

Science is a much less emphasized topic than other subjects in early childhood education (ECE; Guo et al., 2014), particularly for children of low-socioeconomic status such as children in Head Start centers (HS, Kaderavek et al., 2020). ECE teachers tend to report lower science teaching efficacy (STE; the belief in one’s ability to teach science subjects) as compared to their teaching efficacy in other topics (Gerde et al., 2018). A potential way to improve STE is by strengthening teachers’ metacognitive awareness (MA: the awareness of domain-specific knowledge and regulatory skills; Hughes, 2017). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the role of MA in HS teachers’ STE.

Research Questions

RQ1. How do MA and STE differ between Head Start teachers with various degrees and majors?
RQ2. What is the role of Head Start teachers’ MA in their STE (controlling for their college majors and years of teaching experiences)?

Methods

Participants

This online survey study took place in summer and fall 2020. A total of 181 teachers from 21 HS centers in eight states in the US completed Qualtrics surveys. After excluding outliers, 153 teachers were included in the analysis (Table 1).

Variables and Measurements

Teachers’ MA was measured by the six subscales in the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory for Teachers (MAIT, Balcikanli, 2011; αdeclarative-knowledge = .85; αprocedural-knowledge = .82; αconditional-knowledge = .84; αplanning = .81; αmonitoring = .80; αevaluating = .79). STE was measured by the science teaching efficacy beliefs (STEB) and outcome expectancy (STOE) subscales in the Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes toward STEM Survey-Science (Friday Institute, 2012; αSTEB = .90; αSTOE = .81).

Analysis

Multilevel regression was employed to account for group-level common variance (i.e., teachers nested in HS centers) using R (Nezlek, 2011).

Results, Discussion, and Limitations

Results regarding RQ1 indicated that HS teachers with ECE majors tended to have better STOE, procedural knowledge, and evaluation skills as compared to teachers with non-education majors. As Haslip & Gullo (2018) pointed out, ECE teachers with training specific to teaching young children tended to have better instructional practices, highlighting the importance of developmentally appropriate practices in ECE teacher preparation.
Results regarding RQ2 (Table 2) showed that HS teachers’ procedural knowledge (β=.29, p<.05) and planning skills (β=.54, p<.001) were related to STEB. Monitoring skills were associated with STOE (β=.32, p<.05). Results indicated that HS teachers who were more aware of instructional strategies and goals tended to be confident in their ability to teach science (Hughes, 2017); those who monitor their teaching practices tended to perceive their science teaching as more impactful (Gutierrez de Blume, 2022). Future teacher preparation and professional development programs should consider strengthening teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and their ability to plan, monitor, and reflect on their teaching practices in order to enhance their STE.
This study has limited generalizability because data were only collected from HS centers. Also, data were collected using self-reported rating scales. Future studies should consider using observation tools to enhance the objectivity of the study.

Authors

• Shiyi Chen, University of Idaho
  Presenting Author

• Rachel Geesa, Ball State University

• Hyuksoon Song, Georgian Court University

• Burcu Izci, Florida Gulf Coast University