Validación de la escala de creencias de eficacia en la enseñanza de la matemática (ECEEM) y caracterización de las creencias de estudiantes de pedagogía básica

Considering the relevance of preservice teachers possessing positive beliefs of their future efficacy as teachers and the absence of validated instruments to measure this construct in Chile, this research generated a convergent and factorial validation of the Escala de Creencias de Eficacia en la Ensenanza de la Matematica (ECEEM), the adapted version in Spanish of the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MTEBI), validated in the United States, in 2000. The sample was comprised of 945 preservice elementary school teachers studying in 14 universities from 5 regions corresponding to northern, central and southern Chile. The results indicate that ECEEM showed a good level of discrimination, an adequate adjustment to the proposed theoretical structure, a high reliability and a significant correlation with the expected variables.Thus, it serves as a reliable instrument to measure the mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of preservice primary education teachers. In descriptive terms, the preservice teachers showed positive efficacy beliefs, though not completely satisfactory, since a significant group doubt the possibility of producing meaningful learning opportunities for their students.