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Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150

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Teaching and Teacher Education


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

Science teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning, ICT efficacy,


ICT professional development and ICT practices enacted in their
classrooms
Dorit Alt*
Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Israel

h i g h l i g h t s

 Several precursors that might impact ICT practices in classrooms were examined.
 Data were gathered from 303 science teachers and analyzed by using PLS-SEM.
 Constructivist conceptions exerted moderate effect on teachers' sense of efficacy.
 Teachers' sense of efficacy increased their ICT efficacy.
 Teachers' ICT training increased their tendency to use ICT in the classroom.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study assessed several precursors that might be connected to Information and Communication
Received 14 May 2017 Technology (ICT) practices enacted in classrooms, namely, science teachers' conception of traditional
Received in revised form versus constructivist teaching and learning, their sense of efficacy, ICT efficacy, and ICT professional
17 March 2018
development. Data were gathered from 303 science teachers. According to the results, constructivist
Accepted 28 March 2018
conceptions exerted moderate effects on the teachers' sense of efficacy constructs, which in turn
increased their ICT efficacy. Additional results pointed to the positive mediation role of teachers' ICT
professional development in linking their ICT efficacy to ICT use for constructivist activities in their
Keywords:
Science and technology education
science classroom.
Teacher conception © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sense of efficacy
ICT efficacy
ICT professional development
Partial Least Squares - Structural equation
modeling (PLS-SEM)

1. Introduction may shed light on their educational practices. This study uses the
new curriculum of science and technology education for primary
The way teachers use their beliefs about knowledge and and secondary schools in Israel (Center for the Advancement of
learning to teach and the beliefs they bring to their professional Scientific and Technological Education (CASTE, 2007); Israeli Min-
experience may serve as barriers or facilitators of learning, shape istry of Education (IME, 2015) to delve deeper into this field of
their practice, and serve as heuristics for teachers embedded in the research by assessing several precursors that might contribute to
ever-changing contexts of classrooms (Admiraal et al., 2017). The teachers' actual behavior in the science classroom, in terms of using
huge shift from traditional to constructivist approaches in science Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for construc-
education context has turned this field of research on teachers’ tivist activities.
conceptions of teaching and learning into a valuable avenue that The new curriculum outlines the pedagogical approach to
teaching science and technology education by shifting the focus
from traditional-based to student-centered approaches. It seeks to
* Corresponding author. Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Tzemach Junction, engage students with scientific and technological activities through
MP, Jordan Valley, 15132, Israel. the implementation of innovative pedagogical approaches that
E-mail address: doritalt@014.net.il.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.03.020
0742-051X/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
142 D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150

characterize the teaching of science and technology for the 21st activities and current reform recommendations. For example,
century. The curriculum designers put an emphasis on the online Donnelly et al. (2014) stipulated that although associated with
learning environment, and perceive it as an integral part of the constructivist learning environments, teachers and students bring
curriculum: “The online activities are intertwined with the teach- expectations to the inquiry-based classroom that are entrenched in
ing/learning sequences, enrich and diversify the teaching pro- traditional practices. Their study indicated features of the tradi-
cesses, and make them more challenging … these activities tional approach inside the classroom that impact on inquiry-based
include: learning objects, simulations and research projects that are instruction, such as predominant teacher monitoring on task
integrated into the instructional units” (CASTE, 2007, p. 37). completion over task understanding, lack of student engagement in
Although the new curriculum reflects the shift from traditional ownership of scientific ideas, and prevailing norms of what effec-
to constructivist approach in science education, several researchers tive teacher questioning is. This use of traditional-based instruc-
(Da-Silva, Ruiz, & Porlan, 2006; Donnelly, McGarr, & O'Reilly, 2014; tional methods represents an important limiting factor in the
Horn, Nolen, & Ward, 2013) express their concerns about the po- capacity of teachers to create a constructivist-based learning
tential of constructivist-based curricula to promote particular environment.
practices of teaching and learning used in classrooms and point to a Teacher beliefs have also been shown to be closely associated
gap between actual activities practiced in the classroom and cur- with lesson planning, assessment, and decision making during
rent reform recommendations. This phenomenon is explained by classroom interactions (Pajares, 1992). Thus a close link exists be-
the conservatism that exists in the teaching profession. The re- tween what teachers do in their classrooms and their beliefs as
searchers suggest that teachers' conceptions and beliefs are deeply exemplified by Enyedy, Goldberg, and Welsh (2005) who discussed
rooted in personal histories about the nature of knowledge and teaching dilemmas which arise for teachers as their identities and
knowledge acquisition acquired through one's own education practices intersect and at times conflict. The authors argue that
learning experiences. Based on this premise, the present work will practices and outcomes are important, but they are limited aspects
measure science teachers' conception of traditional versus of what is needed to be considered when attempting to understand
constructivist teaching and learning, their sense of efficacy, ICT the complexities of teaching and learning. Therefore, they suggest
efficacy, and ICT professional development, as possible constructs examining teachers’ multiple identities in relation to their imple-
that might be connected to their tendency to enact ICT practices in mentation of a science curriculum that might provide a rich ac-
their classrooms. This study might support key stakeholders with count for the implementation of a science curriculum.
insights into teachers' psychological and personal aspects that The current study adds to those efforts by focusing on two
might be connected to science teachers' tendency to use these ac- additional factors that might mediate the connection between
tivities in their classrooms. teachers' conception of teaching and their actual classroom activ-
ities namely, their sense of efficacy, ICT efficacy, and their
1.1. Literature review involvement in ICT professional development activities.

1.1.1. Teachers' conceptions of teaching 1.2. Teachers' sense of efficacy and ICT efficacy
Conceptions of teaching are viewed as instructional ideas about
the nature of the content to be taught, about how to teach the Perceived self-efficacy is defined as “people's beliefs about their
content to students and about how students learn the content (Da- capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that ex-
Silva et al., 2006). Conceptions of teaching are often classified as ercise influence over events that affect their lives. Self-efficacy
dimensions, orientations and complex sets of propositions, teach- beliefs determine how people feel, think, motivate themselves
ers' preferred ways of teaching and learning including the meaning and behave. Such beliefs produce these diverse effects through four
of these ways and the roles of teachers and pupils (Chan & Elliott, major processes. They include cognitive, motivational, affective and
2004; Koballa, Glynn, Upson, & Coleman, 2005). Chan (2009) selection processes” (Bandura, 1994, p. 71). Moreover, self-efficacy
classifies conceptions of teaching and learning using two broad is not only about the multiplicity of skills that the person has, but
categories: quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative concep- it is also related to the belief on what he or she can accomplish with
tion refers to the quantity of knowledge acquired and reproduced, these skills in a given situation (Bandura, 1997).
also known as the teacher-centered instruction. This type of A teacher's efficacy belief has been defined as a judgment of the
approach is focused on the teacher's input and on assessment in teacher's capabilities to bring about desired outcomes of student
terms of how well the students absorb the material taught. Course engagement and learning, even among those students who may be
descriptions refer mainly to the content of the course that would be unmotivated (Bandura, 1977). Teacher efficacy has proved to be
covered in lectures. The teacher is perceived as a transmitter of the powerfully related to many meaningful educational outcomes such
knowledge, and the student as the recipient of the knowledge as instructional behavior. Accordingly, it is one of the most studied
(Chan & Elliott, 2004). In contrast, the qualitative conception refers aspects of the classroom context. Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-
to deep understanding of the knowledge - associated with the Hoy (2001) assert that teachers' efficacy beliefs relate to their
constructivist view of learning, and with the student-centered in- behavior in the classroom and affect the effort they invest in teaching
struction. A constructivist teacher makes the learning more rele- and the goals they set. Teachers with a strong sense of efficacy are
vant to the students' needs by creating a context for learning in more open to new ideas and are more willing to experiment with
which students can become engaged in discovery, collaboration new methods to better meet the needs of their students. Greater
and critical thinking activities (Cheng, Chan, Tang, & Cheng, 2009). efficacy enables teachers to be more positive and responsive to
Several studies have pointed to symmetric relationships be- students and promote positive classroom environments thus, im-
tween teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning and their pacts the type of the learning environment a teacher provides
actual practices in the classroom. For example, Zhang and Liu's (Miller, Ramirez, & Murdock, 2017). Gurbuzturk and Sad (2009) have
(2013) study revealed that constructivist teachers favored student associated teachers' sense of self-efficacy with their traditional
participation, interactive class, while teachers who held traditional versus constructivist educational beliefs. Their study revealed that
beliefs have focused attention on drill and practice, rote memori- participants' professional self-efficacy levels were moderately over
zation, and teacher authority. average and they had both constructivist and traditional beliefs,
Others have pointed to a gap that exists between classroom however, constructivist beliefs were found moderately more
D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150 143

dominant. In a similar vein, Dilekli and Tezci (2016) examined the levels of science teachers' traditional conceptions of teaching
relationship between elementary teachers' practices aiming at and learning will be reported compared with their construc-
teaching thinking skills and their self-efficacy towards teaching tivist conceptions (H1).
those skills. According to their findings, self-efficacy was valuable in 2. Based on previous studies (Gurbuzturk & Sad, 2009) linking
explaining teachers' teaching thinking practices. teachers' sense of self-efficacy to their traditional versus
As contemporary environments are highly supported by tech- constructivist educational beliefs, it is postulated that an inverse
nology, Yesilyurt, Ulaş, and Akan (2016) showed the positive im- connection will be detected between teachers' positive con-
pacts of teacher self-efficacy, academic self-efficacy, and computer ceptions of traditional teaching and learning and their sense of
self-efficacy on their attitude towards applying computer- efficacy in science classrooms (H2).
supported education. The researchers maintain that in order to 3. Constructivist conceptions of teaching and learning will be
develop positive attitudes towards computer-supported education, positively connected to perceived efficacy in science classrooms
to attach importance to its use in professional life, and to apply it (H3).
effectively, it is necessary for teachers to have high levels of aca- 4. In line with previous studies (Yesilyurt et al., 2016), it is expected
demic self-efficacy and computer self-efficacy. Yet, the teachers' that teachers' sense of efficacy will be positively connected to
actual use of computer-supported practices in their classrooms was their ICT efficacy (H4). This study elaborates on previous studies
not assessed in this study. Nevertheless, other studies have by assessing the role of teachers' constructivist conceptions of
addressed this limitation. For example, Vanderlinde and van Braak teaching in this relationship.
(2010) have searched for factors affecting the use of ICT in educa- 5. In accordance with past work (Vanderlinde & van Braak, 2010),
tional settings. In their study, they presented a conceptual frame- teachers' ICT efficacy is expected to be positively connected to
work to examine the complex process of integrating ICT for their tendency to use ICT for learning activities (H5). It should be
instructional purposes, and pointed to teachers' ICT competence, noted that in this study, a wide range of science constructivist
among other variables, as an important condition for effective ICT activities will be measured, whereas previous studies' mea-
use by teachers. Yet, it should be noted that the examined activities surements were restricted to assessing ICT as a learning tool
were not defined in the context of constructivist learning nor were (e.g., using educational software and instructional computer
they related to science education. programs to learn or to make exercises), that was not directly
related to constructivist learning objectives.
1.2.1. ICT professional development 6. The possible role of teachers' involvement in ICT professional
With the rapid changes in ICT, professional development with development activities in positively mediating the connection
relation to ICT usages in the classroom is essential in order to keep between teachers' ICT efficacy and ICT activities in the class-
up with those changes and developments. Kabakci, Odabasi, and rooms will be measured (Koh, Chai, & Lim, 2016; Vanderlinde &
Kilicer (2010) argue that it is necessary to take adult-education- van Braak, 2010) (H6).
based learning theories, which might be also referred to as life-
long learning theories, as the basis for the organization of effective, Model 1 (Fig. 1) is a path diagram illustrating the theoretical
productive and practical professional development activities. Pro- structure of the proposed framework with hypothesis indications.
fessional development is considered important in improving
teachers' ICT skills and to foster positive attitudes towards ICT
integration and has been demonstrated as such in several studies. 2. Method
For example, in Koh, Chai, and Lim's (2016) study, ICT professional
development process was found valuable in developing teachers' 2.1. Participants
technological pedagogical content knowledge for the 21st-century
learning. Moreover, it enabled teachers to assess their current ICT Data were gathered by research assistants from 303 science
lessons, design goals, redesign, implement, and evaluate student teachers from 122 Israeli public schools (64.4% female teachers), of
learning outcomes, as well as reflect on their pedagogical practices.
The authors link such professional development process to teach-
ers' confidence to effectively design ICT practices. Vanderlinde and
van Braak (2010) summarize the conditions for effective ICT pro-
fessional development: the training has to be linked with context-
specific questions, give teachers opportunities for “hands-on”
work, be consistent with teachers' needs, and the level of ICT
competence of the teachers involved. In their study, they found a
strong link between teachers' ICT competencies and their ICT pro-
fessional development and suggested that teachers who participate
in ICT-related professional development courses and keep up to
date with developments in the field of ICT integration also feel
more competent in integrating ICT into education.

1.2.2. This study


Based on the above-provided literature, this study aims at
assessing science teachers' conception of traditional versus
constructivist teaching and learning, their sense of efficacy, ICT effi-
cacy, and ICT professional development, as precursors to their use of
ICT practices. To this end, the following hypotheses will be tested:

1. As constructivist teaching lies at the core of science education Fig. 1. Model 1. The theoretical structure of the proposed framework with hypothesis
and the formal teacher's guide, it is expected that merely low indication.
144 D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150

whom 66% were primary school teachers and 34% middle school classrooms. The teachers were asked to report their level of
teachers. The schools were randomly selected for data gathering, agreement with the statements such as: “I have sufficient technical
however, in each school, the participants have volunteered to take knowledge and skills to use ICT in my classroom” by using a 5-point
part in the study. The seniority level mean result of the teachers Likert-style format ranging from 1 ¼ strongly disagree to
was 14.34 years (SD ¼ 10.03). The most frequent age category re- 5 ¼ strongly agree. One item was excluded in order to increase the
ported by the participants was 31e35 years (20.8%). With regard to Cronbach's alpha reliability result (a ¼ 0.82).
educational attainment, 70.7% reported having a bachelor's degree, ICT-Supported Activities in the Classroom. This 9-item scale was
26.8% a master's degree, 1% Ph.D. degree, and 1.5% who chose not to specifically designed for the purposes of the current study and
answer. The distribution of the teachers with relation to the cultural was based on the new curriculum of science education in Israel
characteristic of their schools was: 18.7% Jewish schools, 20.1% (CASTE, 2007). The teachers were given a list of activities that
Muslim schools, 16.1% Christian schools, 37.5% mixed (Arab and might cultivate scientific skills and thus recommended by the
Jewish) schools, and 7.6% Druze schools. formal teacher's guide for science education in primary and sec-
ondary schools. The teachers were asked to report the extent to
2.2. Instrumentation which ICT was used in their classrooms to support the activities
delineated below:
The Teaching and Learning Conceptions questionnaire (TLCQ).This
scale was developed by Chan and Elliott (2004), based on a litera- 1. Accessing verbal and visual texts with graphical organizers,
ture review of prevailing conceptions of teaching and learning, and rhetorical and typographic means
dialogues with Hong Kong students before teaching practice. The 2. Preparing learning product (such as reports, graphic organizers,
scale measures two different conceptions of the teaching/learning models and displays, simulation games, presentations, and
nexus: traditional and constructivist. Based on the original study's posters)
factor loading results, indicators with factor loadings lower than 3. Planning research processes (identification and formulation of
0.40 (Byrne, 2010) were not selected for the current study to create research goals, hypotheses, experiments, and observations)
a more valid and reliable assessment of the factor, thus only eight 4. Collecting and processing data, and drawing conclusions
items were included in the traditional measurement. The following 5. Designing possible solutions
are example items that were included in this questionnaire: “A 6. Assessing different solutions
teacher's major task is to give students knowledge/information, 7. Executing and evaluating a chosen solution
assign them drill and practice, and test their recall”; “During the 8. Managing group project work
lesson, it is important to keep students confined to the textbooks 9. Regulating the learning process
and the desks".
Following the same procedure, the constructivist questionnaire The participants were asked to report the extent to which they
included 11 items, such as: “It is important that a teacher un- used these activities in their classrooms on a five-point Likert scale
derstands the feelings of the students”; “Good teachers always of 1 ¼ almost never to 5 ¼ almost always (a ¼ 0.933).
encourage students to think for answers themselves”. The scaling of ICT Teachers' Professional Development Scale. This 4-item scale
this instrument was a 5-point Likert-style format ranging from (Vanderlinde & van Braak, 2010) was designed to assess teacher
1 ¼ strongly disagree to 5 ¼ strongly agree. engagement in professional development activities related to ICT
A principal component analysis followed by a Varimax rotation integration into the curriculum. The teachers were asked to
was used to corroborate the stability of the TLCQ structure (eigen- report their level of agreement with the statements: “I attend
value > 1.00; item loadings > 0.40). The analysis solution accounted frequently in-service teacher training about the educational use
for 51.07% of the variance and yielded two categories: traditional of ICT”; “I try to keep informed about everything that has to do
(eight items, a ¼ 0.834), and constructivist (11 items, a ¼ 0.910), with ICT in education”; “I take initiative to learn about every-
conceptions. thing that has to do with ICT in education”; and “I attend
Teachers' Sense of Efficacy scale (short form). This scale was frequently technical ICT in-service teacher training courses”. A 5-
designed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy (2001) to point Likert-style format was used ranging from 1 ¼ completely
determine teachers' sense of efficacy along three sub-scales each disagree to 5 ¼ completely agree (a ¼ 0.84). It should be noted that
includes four items: Efficacy in Student Engagement (e.g., “How in-service science teacher training programs in Israel are pro-
much can you do to motivate students who show low interest in vided by The Ministry of Education. These programs take place in
schoolwork”); Efficacy in Instructional Strategies (e.g., “To what national centers for professional development for teachers in
extent can you use a variety of assessment strategies”); and Effi- science and technology. These programs' main goal is to raise the
cacy in Classroom Management (e.g., "How much can you do to quality and level of teaching in the fields of science and tech-
control disruptive behavior in the classroom”). All the scale items nology and to improve the teacher's skills of teaching and
were subjected to a principal component analysis followed by a working in a digital environment. Those centers are equipped
Varimax rotation with an eigenvalue >1.00 as a criterion for with laboratory equipment and state-of-the-art teaching acces-
determining the number of factors. The analysis resulted in three sories, computers and communications, which enable high-
factors, which accounted together for 60.82% of the variance. quality courses (e.g., The National Center for the Professional
Three items loaded (>0.40) on the efficacy in student engagement Development of Teachers in Science and Technology in Northern
factor (a ¼ 0.74, one item (T11) was excluded due to a low loading Israel, 2017).
result); the efficacy in instructional strategies factor included four
items (a ¼ 0.76); and the efficacy in classroom management factor 2.3. Data analysis
had four related indicators (a ¼ 0.72). The scaling of this instru-
ment was a 5-point Likert-style format ranging from 1 ¼ not at all Data were analyzed by using Partial Least Squares - Structural
to 5 ¼ very much. Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM; Hair, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2017),
Teachers' ICT Efficacy. This five-item scale was designed by advised to be applied if the primary objective of applying structural
Vanderlinde and van Braak (2010) to measure teachers' concep- equation modeling is prediction of target constructs. SmartPLS 3
tions of their competencies and abilities to use ICT in their software was used.
D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150 145

3. Results described as substantial, moderate, or weak (Hair et al., 2017). In


addition to measuring the R2 values, the change in the R2 value
3.1. Descriptive statistics when a specified exogenous construct is omitted from the model
should be used to evaluate its impact on the endogenous con-
Table 1 displays the descriptive statistics of the research con- structs. This measure is referred to as the f2 effect size when values
structs and indicators. Following the general guidelines for skew- of 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35, respectively, represent small, medium, and
ness and kurtosis (suggesting that if the number is greater than þ 1 large effect (Cohen, 1988). According to the results, Traditional
or lower than 1, then the distribution is skewed, flat or peaked). Conceptions had small effect sizes (0.010e0.026) on Teachers'
The construct distributions can be generally considered normal. sense of Efficacy sub-constructs. The Constructivist Conceptions
In order to assess the participants' traditional versus construc- construct had high effect sizes of 0.413e0.489 on the endogenous
tivist conceptions (H1), a repeated measures analysis of variance latent variables. Lastly, the blindfolding procedure was used to
was used. Results showed that the participants tend to possess assess the predictive relevance (Q2) of the path model. Values larger
more constructivist than traditional conceptions (mean results and than 0 suggest that the model has predictive relevance for a certain
SD values are provided in Table 1). These differences were found endogenous construct (Hair et al., 2017). The Q2 value of the
statistically significant (F(1, 302) ¼ 153.32 p < .001, h2p ¼ 0.34). H1 was Teachers' Sense of Efficacy constructs ranges from 0.175 to 0.214.
confirmed. According to the results, H2 was not confirmed, as inverse con-
In order to assess H2 and H3, Model 2 (Fig. 2) was constructed. nections were not shown between teachers' conceptions of tradi-
This path model includes five constructs, represented in the model tional teaching and learning and their sense of efficacy in science
as cycles: Constructivist Conceptions, Traditional Conceptions, and classrooms, whereas H3 was fully supported.
the three sub-constructs of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy scale: Model 3 (Fig. 3) was constructed to check H4 and H5. This model
Efficacy in Student Engagement, Efficacy in Instructional Strategies, also addressed the results provided in Model 2. Therefore, paths
and Efficacy in Classroom Management. The indicators are the were specified from the Constructivist Conceptions to the Teachers'
directly measured proxy variables, represented as rectangles. Re- Sense of Efficacy latent construct. In order to create a more parsi-
lationships between the constructs as well as between the con- monious model, the three sub-factors of the Teachers' Sense of
structs and their assigned indicators are shown as arrows. The PLS- Efficacy scale were entered into the model as indicators. It should
SEM analysis used path weighting scheme and a mean value also be noted that given the small effect sizes (0.010e0.026) on
replacement for missing values. Based on the theoretical model, Teachers' sense of Efficacy sub-constructs, Traditional Conceptions
paths were specified from Constructivist Conceptions and Tradi- was not included in this model (Model 3) and the following one
tional Conceptions to the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy sub-scales. One (Model 4). Moreover, in line with H4 and H5, another path was
indicator of the Traditional Conceptions latent construct was specified between Teachers' Sense of Efficacy and Teachers' ICT
omitted from the model due to a low loading result <0.40 (Hair Efficacy and between the latter and ICT Supported Activities in the
et al., 2017). Classroom.
Table 2 presents the analysis results of the direct effects (see A bootstrap routine was used to detect direct and indirect sig-
results for Model 2). The results show that Constructivist Concep- nificant path coefficient results. Table 2 displays the analysis results
tions exerts moderate and significant effects on the Teachers' Sense of the direct and indirect effects for Model 3. The results showed a
of Efficacy sub-factors; the highest result was found for the path significant high coefficient result between Constructivist Concep-
associated with the efficacy in Instructional Strategies construct. tions and Teachers' Sense of Efficacy, a moderate result between
Merely small significant coefficient results were indicated for the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy and Teachers' ICT Efficacy, and a low
Traditional Conceptions, the highest result was found for the path indirect effect between Constructivist Conceptions and Teachers'
linking this construct to Efficacy in Classroom Management. ICT Efficacy via Teachers' Sense of Efficacy. Other path coefficient
The model evaluation included the following steps. First, results were found very low, and a non-significant direct effect was
collinearity was examined by Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) values found between Constructivist Conceptions and ICT Supported
of all sets of predictor constructs in the structural model. The re- Activities.
sults showed that the VIF values of all combinations of endogenous The structural model evaluation included the above-mentioned
and exogenous constructs are below the threshold of 5 (Hair et al., steps. First, collinearity was examined by VIF values and was found
2017) and equal to 1.067. Therefore, collinearity among the pre- sufficient (VIF ¼ 1.00, 1.072). Second, the coefficient of determina-
dictor constructs is not a critical issue in this structural model. tion (R2) value of Teachers' ICT Efficacy (0.146) was found rather
Next, the coefficient of determination (R2) value was examined. weak, a low result was also found for ICT Supported Activities
R2 values for the endogenous factors ranged from 0.344 to 0.368 (0.023). The R2 value of Teachers' Sense of Efficacy was moderate
these values can be considered moderate, when R2 values of 0.75, (0.433). According to the f2 results, Constructivist Conceptions had
0.50, or 0.25 for endogenous latent variables can be respectively a high effect (0.765) on Teachers' Sense of Efficacy whereas the

Table 1
Descriptive statistics of the research constructs and indicators.

Construct Indicators Mean SD Skewness Kurtosis

Constructivist Conceptions 4.141 0.610 0.567 0.095


Traditional Conceptions 3.532 0.703 0.848 1.149
Teachers' Sense of Efficacy 4.062 0.522 0.534 .3990
Efficacy in student engagement 4.093 0.595 0.524 .510
Efficacy in instructional strategies 4.113 0.595 0.691 .989
Efficacy in classroom management 4.025 0.595 0.642 .487
Teachers' ICT Efficacy 3.672 0.787 0.572 .626
Teachers' ICT Professional Development 3.458 0.861 0.174 0.379
ICT Supported Activities in the Classroom 3.076 0.895 0.207 0.249
146 D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150

Fig. 2. Model 2. Analysis results of the examination of H2 and H3 by PLS-SEM. Note: P1-P9 are observed items related to the Constructivist Conceptions latent variable; S1-S4 and
S6-S8 are observed items related to the Traditional Conceptions latent variable; T2-T4 are observed items related to the Efficacy in Student Engagement latent variable; T5, T9, T10,
and T12 are observed items related to the Efficacy in Instructional Strategy latent variable; T6, T7, T8, and T1 are observed items related to the Efficacy in Classroom Management
latent variable.

latter had a moderate effect (0.171) on Teachers' ICT Efficacy, other indirectly contributed to Teachers' ICT Professional Development
results were close to zero. Finally, the predictive relevance (Q2) of through Teachers' ICT Efficacy, a similar trajectory was found be-
the path model was assessed: ICT Supported Activities (0.011), tween Constructivist Conceptions and Teachers' ICT Professional
Teachers' ICT Efficacy (0.085), and Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Development, pointing to the mediating role of both teachers' ef-
(0.313). ficacy constructs.
These results confirm H4. Given the very low results regarding The model evaluation yielded sufficient collinearity assess-
the impact of Teachers' ICT efficacy on ICT activities in the class- ment results (1  VIF  1.611). The R2 value of the ICT Supported
rooms, it may be concluded that H5 was partially confirmed. Constructivist Activities (0.090) was found weak. A relatively
H6 assessment was similar to the above procedure; however, in higher result was indicated for Teachers' ICT Efficacy (0.138).
this case, as shown in Model 4 (Fig. 4), the Teachers' ICT Profes- Moderate results were found for Teachers' Sense of Efficacy
sional Development construct was entered into the model as a (0.434) and Teachers' ICT Professional Development (0.366). The
mediator, between Teachers' ICT Efficacy and ICT Supported Ac- f2 results showed that, similar to the previous models, Construc-
tivities. An additional direct path between the latter constructs was tivist Conceptions had a high effect (0.766) on Teachers' Sense of
specified to allow measuring the full/partial/none mediating role of Efficacy, Teachers' Sense of Efficacy had a low effect (0.161) on
the Teachers' ICT Professional Development construct. The analysis Teachers' ICT Efficacy, and Constructivist Conceptions had a very
was in accordance with the above-described procedures. Addi- low effect (0.002) on ICT Supported Activities. In addition,
tional information to previous model results provided by this Teachers' ICT Efficacy had a high effect (0.578) on Teachers' ICT
analysis as seen in Table 2 (results for Model 4) is the positive link Professional Development, whereas the latter had a very low ef-
between Teachers' ICT Efficacy and Teachers' ICT Professional fect (0.075) on ICT Supported Activities. The predictive relevance
Development, and the low and positive coefficient result found (Q2) of the path model was assessed and was found very low for
between the latter and ICT Supported Activities. Moreover, Teach- ICT supported Activities (0.053) and for Teachers' ICT Efficacy
ers' ICT Professional Development has mediated the link between (0.084). Higher results were indicated for Teachers' ICT Profes-
Teachers' ICT Efficacy and ICT Supported Activities, with a very low sional Development (0.228), and for Teachers' Sense of Efficacy
indirect effect found between them. Teachers' Sense of Efficacy has (0.313). Taken together with the non-significant direct effect
D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150 147

Table 2
Significance analysis of the direct and indirect effects.

Direct Effect t value p value Indirect Effect t value p value

Model 2
Constructivist Conceptions -Efficacy in Student Engagement .541 12.991 .000
Constructivist Conceptions - Efficacy in Instructional Strategies .575 13.864 .000
Constructivist Conceptions - Efficacy in Classroom Management .538 11.422 .000
Traditional Conceptions -Efficacy in Student Engagement .134 3.011 .003
Traditional Conceptions - Efficacy in Instructional Strategies .084 1.896 .059
Traditional Conceptions - Efficacy in Classroom Management .135 3.251 .001
Model 3
Constructivist Conceptions - ICT Supported Activities .004 0.049 .941
Constructivist Conceptions - Teachers' Sense of Efficacy .658 17.187 .000
Teachers' Sense of Efficacy - Teachers' ICT Efficacy .382 8.308 .000
Teachers' ICT Efficacy - ICT Supported Activities .150 2.093 .037
Constructivist Conceptions - ICT Supported Activities .038 2.040 .042
Constructivist Conceptions - Teachers' ICT Efficacy .252 7.380 .000
Teachers' Sense of Efficacy - ICT Supported Activities .057 2.084 .038
Model 4
Constructivist Conceptions - ICT Supported Activities -.039 0.713 .476 .039 2.426 .016
Constructivist Conceptions - Teachers' Sense of Efficacy .658 16.822 .000
Teachers' Sense of Efficacy - Teachers' ICT Efficacy .372 7.861 .000
Teachers' ICT Efficacy - Teachers' ICT Professional Development .605 16.763 .000
Teachers' ICT Professional Development - ICT Supported Activities .330 4.479 .000
Teachers' ICT Efficacy - ICT Supported Activities -.041 0.527 .599 .199 4.142 .000
Constructivist Conceptions - Teachers' ICT Efficacy .245 6.999 .000
Constructivist Conceptions - Teachers' ICT Professional Development .148 6.456 .000
Teachers' Sense of Efficacy - ICT Supported Activities .059 2.420 .016
Teachers' Sense of Efficacy - Teachers' ICT Professional Development .225 7.173 .000

Fig. 3. Model 3. Analysis results of the examination of H4 and H5 by PLS-SEM. Note: P1-P9 are observed items related to the Constructivist Conceptions latent variable; A11-A19 are
observed items related to the ICT Supported Activities latent variable; The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy latent variable is accompanied by three observed variables; H5-H8 are
observed items related to the Teachers' ICT Efficacy latent variable.

between Teachers' ICT Efficacy and ICT Supported Activities, these 4. Discussion
findings point to a full, yet rather weak, mediating role of
Teachers' ICT Professional Development in linking those The overarching aim of this study was to explore science
constructs. teachers' conception of traditional versus constructivist teaching
148 D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150

Fig. 4. Model 4. Analysis results of the examination of H6 by PLS-SEM. Note: P1-P9 are observed items related to the Constructivist Conceptions latent variable; A11-A19 are
observed items related to the ICT Supported Activities latent variable; The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy latent variable is accompanied by three observed variables; H5-H8 are
observed items related to the Teachers' ICT Efficacy latent variable; H1-H4 are observed items related to the Teachers' ICT Professional Development latent variable.

and learning, their sense of efficacy, ICT efficacy, and ICT profes- exhibition of authority and employment of power (Beck, 2009;
sional development, as precursors to their use of ICT activities in Oral, 2013). Allen (2010) maintains that the way teachers manage
their classrooms. The results showed that, as expected, the teachers their students' behavior is impacted by the models they adopt, and
tended towards constructivist than traditional conceptions about the strategies that are commensurate with these models: demo-
teaching and learning. Moreover, Constructivist Conceptions exer- cratic models that see misbehavior as an opportunity to learn or
ted moderate and significant effects on the Teachers' Sense of Ef- behavioristic models that make use of punishment, coercion, and
ficacy sub-factors, the highest result was found for the path rewards.
associated with the Efficacy in Instructional Strategies construct. Another result showed that Teachers' Sense of Efficacy,
This construct pertains to teachers’ willingness to implement new informed by their constructivist conceptions, was positively con-
instructional techniques and respond to the needs of students, their nected to their ICT efficacy. These results may be corroborated by
tendency to use a variety of instructional and assessment strategies previous studies that link teachers' high levels of academic self-
to promote student thinking, adjust the lesson to individual student efficacy to computer self-efficacy (e.g., Yesilyurt et al., 2016).
needs, deal with learning difficulties, repair student mis- However, our analysis did not corroborate the postulated positive
conceptions, and implement alternative strategies (Tschannen- direct connection between ICT efficacy and actual use of ICT sup-
Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001). Merely small significant coeffi- ported constructivist activities in the classrooms, yet, additional
cient results were indicated for the Traditional Conceptions with results pointed to the positive mediation role of teachers' ICT pro-
relation to Teachers' Sense of Efficacy. The Efficacy in Classroom fessional development activities in linking those constructs. Such
Management construct was mainly associated with the teachers' activities mainly pertain to formal training programs teachers
traditional conceptions. Classroom management is perceived as the engaged with to learn about new tools and strategies that involve
process of organizing and conducting the classroom, and involves ICT effective implementations in the classroom.
the maintenance of the classroom environment so that educational Taken together, this study's results point to the contribution, to
goals can be accomplished (Garrett, 2014; Savage & Savage, 2010). some extent, of science teachers' conception of constructivist
In this study, this construct referred to the teachers' ability to teaching and learning, sense of efficacy, ICT efficacy, and ICT
control disruptive behavior or to get the children follow classroom professional development, in explaining teachers' tendency to
rules. The link between these constructs may reflect the power enact ICT practices in their classrooms. However, it is noteworthy
relations that exist in traditional classrooms in which teachers do that the measured variables showed a limited ability in explaining
not share authority with students. The teacher is largely, if not the use of ICT in the classroom for constructivist activities. A
exclusively, responsible for setting goals, designing learning tasks, plausible explanation might be related to methodology. In
and assessing what is learned. These relations are conceived as an contrast to previous work, in this study, a wide variety of science
D. Alt / Teaching and Teacher Education 73 (2018) 141e150 149

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