The development of pre-service STEM teachers' teaching-related self-efficacy in their course of study

Self-efficacy beliefs are considered to be a central component of teachers' motivation and therefore have an impact on the development of their professional skills. Studies have shown divergent empirical results concerning the development of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs during university studies. Further, the impact of practice-oriented phases on teachers' self-efficacy beliefs are unclear due to different target groups, different addressed topics, and varying constructs of self-efficacy beliefs used in investigations. Aiming at more differentiated insights, we present two investigations which: 1. exclusively address pre-service teachers, 2. focus on the STEM-domains, and 3. operationalize teaching-related self-efficacy beliefs with respect to Planning, Implementing and Reflecting of instruction. In a crosssectional study with N = 1165 participants from six German universities, we have found that the teaching-related self-efficacy beliefs remain constant during the course of study. In addition, practice-oriented phases seemed to have no effect on students' self-efficacy beliefs. A longitudinal study with N = 47 participants has shown positive significant effects regarding the development of self-efficacy beliefs with respect to Planning, Implementing and Reflecting of instruction in a pre-post-intervention during a practice-oriented seminar. Thus, we conclude that practice-oriented phases. if they are directly linked to specific situations and include constructive feedback, have a positive impact on self-efficacy beliefs. If participants relate these beliefs to rather more abstract experiences, which are not directly linked to specific situations, their beliefs seem to stagnate.