TEACHING ANXIETY OF STUDENT TEACHERS FROM DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES

Abstract

This study aims to find out the level of student teacher anxiety that student teachers from different majors of study experience and whether this level changes throughout the practicum. For this purpose 403 student teachers completing their teaching practicum in different departments at Anadolu University Faculty of Education participated in the study by answering a revised version of Student Teacher Anxiety Scale (STAS). The quantitative analysis of the data showed that although student teachers were moderately anxious about the items in the scale at the beginning and at the end of the practicum, there was a significant difference between the two administrations: the student teachers, regardless of department, were less anxious in the second administration. A 7X2 Mixed-design ANOVA analysis showed that there was a significant difference when time*department relationship is considered although time itself did not yield any significance. The findings are discussed along the existing literature and current practices of teaching education programs.

Key Words: student teachers, teaching anxiety, teacher education

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