Computer science teachers' professional beliefs and motivational orientations

In the context of teachers' professional competence, professional beliefs and motivational orientations play a special role because they influence the teachers' classroom behavior and long-term psychological functioning. For the target group of computer science teachers, these factors have rarely been analyzed. After the qualitative modeling of beliefs and motivational orientations based on an interview study, the aim of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to confirm the assumed conceptual structure of beliefs and motivational orientations. Therefore, an online survey with 155 (future) computer science teachers was conducted. The dimensionality of the constructs was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Consistent with studies in the subject mathematics within the domain-specific learning-theoretical beliefs a constructivist and a transmissive orientation can be confirmed. These dimensions are negatively correlated. Moreover, two new computer science specific dimensions are confirmed. The analyzed constructs of domain-specific motivational orientations (enthusiasm and self-efficacy) could be shown as two distinct constructs that are positively related.