Pre- & Post-Teachings
Problem
① Group Teaching Project
As part of the Group Teaching project, throughout the semester, each group must design and develop a digital-age lesson that meets the ISTE Standards for Students 2016 and ISTE Standards for Teachers adequately by incorporating relevant instructional technology tools and strategies. At the end of the semester each group must teach the lesson to the whole class.
② Reality/Problem
Many instructional technology instructors find it difficult to help undergraduate pre-service teachers see enough relevance in learning various instructional technology skills as students lack adequate teaching experience and many students have not been exposed to lessons enhanced with instructional technology. For most undergraduate pre-service teachers, these instructional technology concepts, tools and techniques look interesting and seem like good ideas, but they often cannot picture how learning them may actually help them teach their subject better and more effectively.
For the past few semesters, despite all the instructional resources and support I provided for the Group Teaching project and although I made a clear distinction between giving a group presentation and teaching, many groups ended up just giving a group presentation with the limited use of instructional technology tools and techniques. Even though students had been introduced to various instructional technology topics and assignments throughout the semester, when each group taught the lesson, their instruction in the Group Teaching project usually did not incorporate instructional technology tools and strategies adequately. Although each group designed their instruction according to the ISTE Standards for Students and Teachers, their instruction usually did not go too far beyond giving a group presentation and giving a small test in the end.
③ Fundamental Problem
The fundamental problem was that students lacked practical knowledge of teaching - i.e., they had no knowledge of:
- their own teaching styles and skills
- difficulties of teaching people
- difficulties of teaching their subjects
- there is nothing difficult about teaching (i.e., thinking that teaching = presentation)
- there is nothing difficult about teaching with technology
- they will do fine teaching and teaching with technology with their existing knowledge and skills
- they will learn most of the real knowledge and skills in OJT (on the job training), not in the classroom
Hypotheses
I hypothesized that their trying to integrate technology in teaching without having this baseline knowledge of real teaching may be the reason why my students (undergraduate pre-service teachers) were having such a hard time seeing the relevance and practical implications of instructional technology concepts, tools, and techniques introduced in the course and adopting them in their instructional design in the Group Teaching project.
For this reason, I have decided to add the pre-teaching session to the Group Teaching project to give them an opportunity to have an authentic teaching experience at the beginning of the semester before they are introduced to instructional technology lessons and projects. I hypothesize that this pre-teaching session will:
- provide the students with the baseline knowledge and reference point for their own teaching styles and skills
- help them evaluate the value and relevance of the instructional technology tools and strategies to which they will be introduced in my class
- help them actively adopt the tools and techniques that work for them and discard what does not
- help them be more realistic, creative and innovative in integrating technology in their lesson in the Group Teaching project.
Method
Design of Intervention
Next semester, the pre-teaching session will be added to the existing Group Teaching project. Students will go through the whole learning process as summarized in the picture below (Figure 1). For the project details, refer to the Group Teaching page.
Research Design
Since the new instructional design (the addition of the pre-teaching component) is expected to produce better learning outcomes than the current instructional design (without the pre-teaching component) does, the 11 project groups in the current semester will be compared with the project groups in the next semester. Since the difference in the project performance could be a result of student ability and skill levels, not a result of the instructional method, I am comparing the 11 groups in the current semester with the 12 groups from the previous semester in which the same instructional method was used for the Group Teaching project.
The same rubrics currently being used will be used to evaluate and grade the performance of each project group. The rubrics are used to grade:
- their lesson plan
- their classroom teaching
- their presentation material
The rubrics are designed to evaluate how well instructional technology tools and strategies are integrated in their lesson and executed in their teaching. The criteria in the rubrics are aligned with the ISTE Standards for Students and Teachers.
Results & Findings
Results will be calculated by using appropriate statistical methods. I am hoping that this new project design will produce better learning outcomes. The results will be reported here at the end of the next semester.