Creating Meaningful Experiences for Pre-Service Teachers: Thoughts and Experiences on an Elective Course

Year 2015, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 29 - 38, 01.08.2015

Duygu Sönmez

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of an elective course titled, “Microteaching in Teacher Education” (MiTEc) which is offered to the 3rd and 4th year pre-service science teachers. This course aims to provide pre-service teachers with meaningful experiences and prepare them for real-classroom settings. During the study, qualitative methodology was employed and face-to-face semi structured interviews and focus group discussions were used as the means of data collection with the participation of 23 pre-service science teachers. All the data was transcribed and content was analyzed to identify emerging themes. MiTEc was found to have a positive influence for pre-service teachers in improving their teaching skills, observations skills, self-confidence and self-awareness, which then also had a positive impact on other courses. The ability to connect theory with practice was one of the major benefits of the course

Keywords

Microteaching, pre-service science teacher, teacher education, video use