An evaluation of prospective teachers' perceptions and self-efficacy for the five minds in terms of some variables

The purpose of this research is to reveal the level of prospective teachers' perceptions of the five minds and self-efficacy in developing these minds. In this study descriptive survey model was used and prospective teachers' perceptions of the five minds were investigated in terms of gender, department and grade; their perceptions of self-efficacy in developing five minds were examined in terms of gender and department. A total of 1159 undergraduate students, selected by using stratified sampling model, participated in the study. 'Five Minds Perception Scale' and the 'Five Minds Development Questionnaire' developed by the researcher, were used. After validity and reliability studies, these tools were applied with the approval of the university's ethical committee. The data were analyzed using a computer package program to have descriptive statistics, as well as t test for independent samples, one-way ANOVA and two- tailed Chi-Square tests. According to the results, the perceptions of prospective teachers for disciplined, synthesizing, creating and ethical minds are at 'Mostly agree'; for respectful mind at 'Strongly agree' level. Additionally, the perceptions of prospective teachers for five minds significantly differ in terms of gender (all minds except for ethical), department (all minds except for respectful) and grade (disciplined and synthesizing minds). Their perceptions of self-efficacy in developing disciplined, respectful and ethical minds of the individuals are at 'Strongly agree'; in developing the synthesizing and creating minds are at 'Mostly agree' level. In addition, significant differences were observed in their perceptions of self-efficacy regarding the development of the five minds, specifically in terms of gender (ethical mind) and department (disciplined mind). Based on all the results, the crucial recommendation is to integrate the five minds into the teacher training program.