Increasing teacher confidence in teaching and technology use through vicarious experiences within an environmental education context

ABSTRACT

Providing teacher candidates opportunities to engage in experiences modeling effective technology integration could improve confidence/comfort in using technology and support skill development and transfer. A purposeful sample of 424 candidates in an educational technology course was administered the Technology and Teaching Efficacy Scale to assess efficacy levels in teaching and use of technology. The course employed environmental education (EE) lessons as foundational curriculum. Findings suggest candidates, who participated in an educational technology course that included repeated exposure to experience-based EE lessons, which mimicked vicarious mastery experiences, gained understanding/awareness of practices in teaching, leading to an increased sense of preparedness and teaching self-efficacy.