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Over the course of the student teaching experience, a student teacher's intention to teach can increase, decrease, or remain the same. The purpose of this study was to explore differences in student teachers that were representative of each category. Teaching intention of 103 student teachers at four universities in 2005-2006 exhibited little change from the beginning of student teaching to the middle of the experience. There was a 7% increase in those who indicated they did not intend to teach from the beginning of student teaching to the end of the experience. The researchers recommend that decision to teach be monitored early in the preservice teaching career to determine when this decision is typically made as well as including other efficacy variables for determinants of career choice. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

The purpose of this study was to explore how the student teaching experience and other variables influenced student teachers' intentions to teach. Data were collected from 80 student teachers at three universities--a land grant/research I institution, a non-land grant/doctoral degree granting institution, and a comprehensive regional institution. Data were collected longitudinally at four points during the student teaching semester. The typical student teacher in this study was a 22-year-old, white, male undergraduate who had been enrolled in agricultural education courses in high school and who had worked full time in agriculture. Intentions to teach did not change during the student teaching experience but did differ by university. The best predictor of a student teacher's intent to teach after student teaching was their intention to teach before student teaching. Differences in intentions to teach were observed at the three universities, and thus university was also predictive of final intent to teach. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)

The purpose of this study was to determine if placing two teachers at the same school had an influence on teaching efficacy. Bandura's Model of Triadic Reciprocality and self-efficacy theory guided the inquiry. The population of interest was all student teachers at Texas A&M University. This study was conducted using data collected from a sample of student teachers during a two-year (four-semester) period from 2004 to 2006. The typical student teacher was a white female pursuing certification as part of an undergraduate degree. Student teachers began the field experience efficacious about their teaching ability, then were less efficacious during the middle of the experience, and finally rebounded to higher levels of efficacy at the end of the experience. It was concluded that there is no difference in teaching efficacy between student teachers placed alone and those placed in pairs. Therefore, this sample was not consistent with Bandura's theory of the positive influence of peer models. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

The purposes of this study were to determine changes in teaching efficacy of student teachers over the course of the student teaching semester and to determine if similar trends occur at different institutions. The population of interest for this study was agricultural science student teachers at Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, and Oklahoma State University. The accessible sample of the population was student teachers during the Spring 2005 at Tarleton, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech Universities and the Fall 2005 semester at Texas A&M and Oklahoma State Universities (n = 99). Using the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale instrument (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001), efficacy in student engagement, efficacy in instructional strategies, and efficacy in classroom management, and overall teaching efficacy were measured: 1) the first day of the 4-week on-campus portion of the student teaching semester; 2) the last day of the 4-week on-campus block; 3) the middle of the 11-week student teaching experience; and 4) the final day of the student teaching experience. It was concluded that overall teaching efficacy changed. Student teachers had "Quite a Bit" of teaching efficacy at the beginning of the semester, which increased slightly 4-weeks later, then decreased to its lowest level at the middle of the 11-week student teaching experience, and then increased to its highest levels at the end of the experience. (Contains 6 tables and 4 figures.)

The purpose of this study was to determine if relationships exist between teaching efficacy and personality type of student teachers. The population of interest was all agricultural science student teachers at Texas A&M University. The sampling frame included all student teachers during the spring and fall semesters of 2005 (n= 72). Teaching efficacy was measured using the long form of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator[R] (MBTI[R]) Form M was used to assess personality type. The typical student teacher was a 22 year old white female who had enrolled in agricultural science courses in high school and who was currently completing an undergraduate degree. Student teachers exhibited "Quite a Bit" of teaching efficacy throughout the student teaching semester. Student teachers were more extroverted (E), sensing (S), feeling (F), and judging (J). The two most commonly observed personality types were ESFJ and ENFP. Personality type of student teachers is negligibly related to teaching efficacy. Efficacy in instructional strategies is negatively related with sensing (S) and efficacy in classroom management is positively related to judging (J). (Contains 3 figures and 4 tables.)

This study compared job stress levels of Texas agricultural science cooperating teachers and Texas agricultural science student teachers across a semester. The research objectives included describing secondary agricultural science cooperating teachers and student teachers perceptions of stressors, by time of semester (beginning, middle, and end), describing perceptions of frequency of stressors, by time of semester (early semester, mid semester, and late semester) among secondary agricultural science cooperating teachers and student teachers, and determining if differences existed between agricultural science student teachers' and cooperating teachers' based on perceptions of job stress and time of semester (early semester, mid semester, and late semester). Job stress severity declined among student teachers as the semester progressed and increased in cooperating teachers at the midpoint of the semester, but then declined toward the end of the semester. Job stress frequency increased in student teachers throughout the semester and declined in cooperating teachers at mid-semester with a slight increase at the end of the semester. Job pressure index scores showed similar trends with an increase throughout the student teaching semester.

Agricultural student teachers (n=36) rated core elements of their field experience. They recognized the importance of relationships with cooperating teachers before and after the experience. Supervised agricultural experience was the only area rated lower after field experience. (Contains 23 references.) (SK)