The Relation among Metacognitive Awareness, Self-Efficacy Towards Teaching Profession and Problem Solving Skills of Teacher Candidates

This research is conducted for the purpose of examining the perceptions of teacher candidates regarding their metacognitive awareness, self-efficacy for the teaching profession and problem solving skills. Method: The research has been carried out with the correlational research design. The sample group of the study was constituted of randomly selected 1475 teacher candidates amongst the participants enrolled in pedagogical formation program and senior students of Ziya Gokalp Faculty of Education in the spring semester of the academic year 2014-2015. In the research,"personal information form", "metacognitive awareness inventory", "teacher self-efficacy scale" and "problem solving inventory" were used as the data collection tools. Findings: It was stated that the metacognitive awareness of teacher candidates have significantly predicted their self-efficacy perception regarding the teaching profession. It was concluded that the metacognitive awareness of teacher candidates have significantly predicted the perception levels of them regarding their problem solving skills. It was determined that the perceptions of teacher candidates regarding their problem solving skills have significantly predicted their perception levels regarding the teaching profession. Implications for Research and Practice: In accordance with the results of the research, some of the suggestions which have been put forward are as follows; activities developing metacognitive awareness should be included in the teacher training programs and in this way the metacognitive awareness of teacher candidates should be developed further so that they are provided to comprehend the importance of metacognitive awareness. Instructors should use methods and techniques which will improve the metacognitive awareness of teacher candidates in their courses.