The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of formal pre-student teaching experiences on the anxiety level and performance of groups of beginning student teachers in the elementary school.Student teaching has been recognized as a crucial period in the life of a prospective teacher. It is considered a time when theory should be constantly tested by practice and practice should be constantly viewed in the light of theory.Critics of teacher education programs find little evidence of a balance between theoretical and practical experiences in the preparation of teachers.Increasing numbers of colleges and universities are providing prospective student teachers with integrated formal programs specifically designed to offer supervised classroom teaching experiences prior to student teaching. These formal pre-student teaching experiences set the stage for deeper understanding of the teaching role and integration of theory with practice.A total of 257 subjects participated in the study. One-hundred fifty-nine subjects had formal pre-student teaching experiences, and 98 subjects did not have formal pre-student teaching experiences. The subjects were selected from three state-supported universities in Indiana.Two instruments were utilized to measure the constructs of anxiety and performance. The Teaching Anxiety Scale was administered to each student teacher prior to the classroom teaching experience. The Performance Opinionaire was completed by each student teacher's classroom supervisor approximately six weeks through the student teaching period.The data collected were subjected to t-tests in order to determine if there were statistically significant differences between mean scores for both groups on both instruments. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were computed to determine significant correlation between level of anxiety and performance of the two groups.There was evidence that the groups did not differ significantly with regard to anxiety level or performance. Anxiety level did not correlate with performance as measured by the Teaching Anxiety Scale or the Performance Opinionaire.According to this study, the effects of formal pre-student teaching experiences were not apparent in the constructs of anxiety and performance, as measured by the Teaching Anxiety Scale and the Performance Opinionaire. Based on the findings of the study, it appears that other factors not measured in the study are in operation. Recommendations for further research were made.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180088 |
| Date | January 1977 |
| Creators | Ris, Diane |
| Contributors | Lane, Conrad C. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | x, 130 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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