Teaching Practices of Malaysian Science Teachers: Role of Epistemic Beliefs and Implicit Intelligence

Abstract

The present study investigated how science teachers’ beliefs about intelligence and their beliefs about knowing and knowledge acquisition influence their teaching practices.A total of 285 science teachers  participated in the present study.Our survey included three parts, namely: epistemological beliefs inventory, implicit theories of intelligence scale, and teaching practices scale. Results revealed that: (1) Malaysian teachers hold more eclectic beliefs in which they viewed teaching as a combination of student-directed along with some teachercentered learning.; (2) Malaysian teachers hold sophisticated epistemological beliefs (3) Malaysian teachers were incremental theorists; (4) Teachers who hold sophisticated epistemic beliefs and incremental theoristswere more likely to adopt student-centered practices; and (5) Teachers teaching practices are antecedents of epistemic beliefs and implicit intelligence beliefs variables.In conclusion, the present study shed light on how teachers’ beliefs influence their preference for teaching practices identified as either student-centeredor teachercentered.