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You are reading: Investigating First Year Education Students’ Stress Level

Written by Gretchen Geng and Richard Milford, Charles Darwin University

ABSTRACT
This paper investigated the stress levels of first-year education students who undertake teaching practicum and theory units during their first year of teacher education program. First, 139 first-year and 143 other years’ education students completed the PSS-10 scale, which measures perceived level of stress. Then, 147 first-year education students completed an online questionnaire to identify the particular stressors in their learning experience. The first-year education students had significantly higher stress levels than other years’ education students, (p < .01). Contributing stressors included academic work commitment; completing placement and related performance assessments in schools and at university; having a good understanding of the requirements of professional teaching, such as classroom management, and working with mentor teachers; and conflicting work and family commitments. These findings provide greater understanding about the stressors experienced by first-year education students and usefully inform ways to help this group achieve their study and career goals.

Investigating First Year Education Students’ Stress Level

Geng, G., & Midford, R. (2015). Investigating First Year Education Students’ Stress Level. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(6). Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol40/iss6/1.
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Investigating First Year Education Students’ Stress Level
G Geng, R Milford, 2015
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