PCK self-efficacy of early and final level students (pre-service teachers): Is there a difference?

This research is descriptive research that aims to determine whether there is a difference in the self-efficacy of early- and final-level students as pre-service physics teachers. The research instrument used a self-efficacy questionnaire consisting of 18 statements, with details of three statements representing the Content Knowledge (CK) domain, nine statements representing the Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) domain, and six statements representing the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) domain. The research was conducted at a physics education study program in Indonesia. The research participants were 62 students, consisting of 32 early-level and 30 final-level students. Data analysis showed that the average self-efficacy score of early-level students was 6.58, and that of final-level students was 6.66, both in the high category. From the mean scores showed that, in general, the self-efficacy of final-year students was higher than that of early-year students. Still, based on the Mann-Whitney test, there was no significant difference between the self-efficacy of early and final-year students. Further analysis of students with low self-efficacy, they were not sure they could teach well because they did not have much teaching experience. Based on these results, study programs and lecturers need to design lecture activities that can enrich the teaching experience of students as pre-service teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]