Analysis of self efficacy beliefs and attitudes of students at the department of elementary mathematics education regarding mathematics education

The purpose of this study was to examine the self efficacy beliefs and attitudes of students studying at the department of Elementary Mathematics Education of Gazi University, regarding mathematics education. The self efficacy beliefs and attitudes of students were analyzed with respect to the background variables of gender, instruction type, academic achievement, elementary school graduation, reasons for choosing the department, order of program preference, working status in relation to their field. Moreover, it was aimed to illustrate whether there was a significant relation between students? attitudes towards mathematics education and their self efficacy beliefs of mathematics education.The population of the study was 167 senior students studying Elementary Mathematics Education at the Faculty of Education at Gazi University in 2009-2010 academic year. Sampling method was not used as it was aimed to reach all the students and 122 senior students participated in the study. Descriptive survey method was utilized in the study.?Mathematics Education Self Efficacy Beliefs Scale? and ?Mathematics Education Attitudes Scale? developed by the researcher and subjected to validity and reliability analyses, were employed in the study. Frequencies, percentages and mean scores were used for data analysis and the differences in perceptions of the participants were analyzed through t-test, analysis of variance, Scheffe Test and Dunnet C Test.The results revealed that pre-service teachers had high level of mathematic self efficacy beliefs and positive attitudes towards mathematics education. Besides, it was observed that the pre-service teachers with positive attitudes had higher scores for mathematic education self efficacy beliefs.Key Words: Self-efficacy, attitudes, mathematics education, elementary mathematics education