Investigation of science teachers' and pre-service teachers' technology self-efficacy levels and reflections to the technology in education usage purposes

In this study, it was aimed to examine the self-efficacy levels of science teachers and pre-service teachers in the use of technology in education according to some variables. In addition, another aim of the research is to get the opinions of science teachers about the use of technology in their lessons. The participants of the research consist of 227 science teachers working in secondary schools affiliated to Kastamonu Provincial Directorate of National Education and 71 pre-service teachers studying in Science Teaching Program, Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Kastamonu University in the 2021-2022 academic year. In the research, sequential explanatory design, which is a type of mixed research method in which quantitative and qualitative research methods are used together, was used. The quantitative data of the study were collected with the Self-Efficacy Scale of Technology Use in Education applied to science teachers and pre-service teachers, and the qualitative data were collected with the Semi-Structured Interview Form applied to only 12 science teachers. The quantitative data obtained from the research were analyzed with the SPSS package program, and the qualitative data were analyzed descriptively. As a result of the analysis of the data, the majority of science teachers (82.38%) have "very high" self-efficacy in using technology in education, and nearly half of the pre-service teachers (50.70%) have "high" self-efficacy levels in the use of technology in education. it was observed that while science teachers' self-efficacy levels in the use of technology in education differed according to the variables of, gender and education level, it did not differ according to the variables of age and seniority. it has been determined that the male and graduate level science teachers have higher self-efficacy levels in the use of technology in education. While science pre-service teachers' self-efficacy levels in the use of technology in education did not differ according to the variables of gender, mother and father education level, a significant difference was found between the 1st grade and the 2nd grade, in favor of the 2nd grade, and between the 1st and 4th grade in favor of the 4th grade according to the grade level variable. As a result of the analysis of the qualitative data of the research, science teachers stated that they use technology in their lessons, especially in reinforcing the subjects, providing permanent learning, and making the lesson more remarkable. It has been observed that science teachers with high technology self-efficacy levels better justify their use of technology in their lessons. In the light of the findings obtained from the research, it is recommended that science teachers and pre-service teachers frequently benefit from technology in science teaching