Improving Student Classroom Teachers’ Content Organization Skills Through Practicum

Year 2023, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 42 - 66, 30.01.2023

Mükerrem Akbulut Taş Ayşegül Karabay

https://doi.org/10.17275/per.23.3.10.1

Abstract

The process of learning and teaching involves the organization of the interaction among teachers, students, and content. The focus of this study was to enable the student teachers’ experience of deliberate practice to improve their organization of specific content and develop practice skills in classroom environments. This study, which adopted a holistic single-case method, examined fourth-year student classroom teachers’ content organization skills in a teaching practicum course. The study was conducted with 11 fourth-year student teachers, who were attending a teaching practicum course, and data were collected through an open-ended test, a semi-structured interview form, and lesson plans. The student teachers were provided with four weeks of training on the components of concepts and generalizations, and with information selecting-organizing-integrating (SOI) techniques. The participants were asked to prepare lesson plans and implement them in the classroom environment. Over six weeks, the researchers provided the participants with feedback and corrections for the lesson plans they prepared. The findings showed that the participants could not reflect the SOI techniques and the components of the concept and generalization in the lesson plans they prepared at the desired level. When the findings from this study were evaluated, we can state that organizing the content in lesson plans and the application of it is indeed a challenging process for student teachers. To efficiently carry out the said task, they need effective and well-structured support from teacher educators.

Keywords

practicum, content organization, selection-organization-integration of information techniques, student-teacher classrooms, bachelor’s level degree

Supporting Institution

Cukurova University Department of Scientific Research Projects

Project Number

(SBA-2017-9184)

References

• Al-Amoush, S., Usak, M., Erdogan, M., Markic, S., & Eilks, I. (2013). Pre-service and in-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning chemistry in Turkey. European Journal of Teacher Education, 36(4), 464-479. doi:10.1080/02619768.2013.807793
• Al-Amoush, S., Markic, S., Usak, M., Erdogan, M., & Eilks, I. (2014). Beliefs about chemistry teaching and learning—a comparison of teachers’ and student teachers’ beliefs from Jordan, Turkey and Germany. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 12(4), 767-792. doi:10.1007/s10763-013-9435-7
• Akcan, S., & Tatar, S. (2010). An investigation of the nature of feedback given to pre-service English teachers during their practice teaching experience. Teacher Development, 14, 153-172. doi:10.1080/13664530.2010.494495.
• Ardıc, S., & Uslu, O. (2021). Examining the variables affecting primary teachers’ teaching and learning approaches with a structural equation model. Education and Science, 46(208), 31-54. doi: 10.15390/EB.2021.10143.
• Aslan, M., & Saglam, M. (2018). Evaluation of teaching practice course according to opinions of student teachers. Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 33(1), 144-162. doi:10.16986/HUJE.2017030313.
• Author, 1, & Author, 2. (2016). This Study is an Article by the Authors. Thus its Name is Hidden Using Wildcards.
• Aydin, S., Demirdogen, B., Akin, F. N., Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, E., & Tarkin, A. (2015). The nature and development of interaction among components of pedagogical content knowledge in practicum. Teaching and Teacher Education, 46, 37-50. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2014.10.008.
• Bahçivan, E. (2016). Investigating the relationships among psts’ teaching beliefs: Are epistemological beliefs central? Educational Studies, 42(2), 221-238. doi:10.1080/03055698.2016.1160823
• Becker, E. S., Waldis, M., & Staub, F. C. (2019). Advancing student teachers’ learning in the teaching practicum through content-focused coaching: a field experiment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 83, 12-26. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2019.03.007.
• Beyer, C. J., & Davis, E. A. (2012). Learning to critique and adapt science curriculum materials: Examining the development of preservice elementary teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. Science Education, 96, 130-157. doi:10.1002/sce.20466.
• Bıkmaz, F. (2017). Investigating the teaching and learning conceptions and scientific epistemological beliefs of pre-service teachers’: A longitudinal study. Education and Science, 42(189), 183-196. doi: 10.15390/EB.2017.4601.
• Boesdorfer, S. B., Del Carlo, D. I., & Wayson, J. (2019). Secondary science teachers’ reported practices and beliefs on teaching and learning from a large national sample in The United States. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 30(8), 815-837. doi:10.1080/1046560X.2019.1604055.
• Borko, H., & Livingston, C. (1989). Cognition and improvisation: Differences in mathematics instruction by expert and novice teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 26, 473-498. doi:10.3102/00028312026004473.
• Brouwer, N., & Korthagen, F. (2005). Can teacher education make a difference? American Educational Research Journal, 42, 153-224. doi:10.3102/00028312042001153.
• Brown, A. L., Myers, J., & Collins, D. (2019). How pre-service teachers’ sense of teaching efficacy and preparedness to teach impact performance during student teaching. Educational Studies, 1-21. doi:10.1080/03055698.2019.1651696.
• Caires, S., & Almeida, L. S. (2005). Teaching practice in initial teacher education: Its impact on student teachers' professional skills and development. Journal of Education for Teaching: International research and pedagogy, 31, 111-120. doi:10.1080/02607470500127236.
• Cakmak, M., Gunduz, M., & Emstad, A. B. (2019). Challenging moments of novice teachers: Survival strategies developed through experiences. Cambridge Journal of Education, 49(2), 147-162. doi: 10.1080/0305764X.2018.1476465.
• Cimen, O., & Cakmak, M. (2020). The effect of feedback on preservice teachers’ motivation and reflective thinking. Elementary Education Online, 19, 932-943. doi:10.17051/ilkonline.2020.695828.
• Creswell, J. H. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson Education.
• Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). How teacher education matters. Journal of Teacher Education, 51, 166-173. doi:10.1177/0022487100051003002.
• Ding, M., Hassler, R., & Li, X. (2021). Cognitive instructional principles in elementary mathematics classrooms: A case of teaching inverse relations. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 52(8), 1195-1224. doi:10.1080/0020739X.2020.1749319.
• Ekinci, N. (2017). Examining the relationships between epistemological beliefs and teaching and learning conceptions of lower-secondary education teachers. Inonu University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 18(1), 344-358. doi:10.17679/inuefd.307065.
• Emre-Akdoğan, E., & Yazgan-Sağ, G. (2018). An investigation on how prospective mathematics teachers design a lesson plan. Ondokuz Mayis University Journal of Education Faculty, 37(1): 81-96. doi: 10.7822/omuefd.313310.
• Ericsson, K. A. (2006). The influence of experience and deliberate practice on the development of superior expert performance. In K. A. Ericsson, N. Charness, P. Feltovich & R. R. Hoffman (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (pp. 685-706). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). Eight ways to promote generative learning. Educational Psychology Review, 28, 717-741. doi:10.1007/s10648-015-9348-9.
• Hagger, H., Burn, K., Mutton, T., & Brindley, S. (2008). Practice makes perfect? Learning to learn as a teacher. Oxford Review of Education, 34, 159-178. doi:10.1080/03054980701614.
• Hanuscin, D. L., Cisterna, D., & Lipsitz, K. (2018). Elementary teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for teaching structure and properties of matter. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 29, 665-692. doi:10.1080/1046560X.2018.1488486.
• He, Y., Levin, B. B., & Li, Y. (2011). Comparing the content and sources of the pedagogical beliefs of Chinese and American pre‐service teachers. Journal of Education for Teaching, 37(2), 155-171. doi: 10.1080/02607476.2011.558270.
• Hennissen, P., Beckers, H., & Moerkerke, G. (2017). Linking practice to theory in teacher education: a growth in cognitive structures. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 314-325. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2017.01.008.
• Kagan, D. M. (1992). Professional growth among preservice and beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research, 62, 129-169. doi:10.2307/1170578.
• Koc, I. (2012). Preservice science teachers reflect on their practicum experience. Educational Studies, 38, 31-38.
• Koc, C., & Yıldız, H. (2012). The reflectors of teaching experiences: Diaries. Education & Science, 37, 223-236.
• Komur, S. (2010). Teaching knowledge and teacher competencies: A case study of Turkish preservice English teachers. Teaching Education, 21, 279-296. doi:10.1080/10476210.2010.498579.
• Koni, I., & Krull, E. (2018). Differences in novice and experienced teachers’ perceptions of planning activities in terms of primary instructional tasks. Teacher Development, 22(4), 464-480. doi: 10.1080/13664530.2018.1442876.
• Juhler, M. V. (2016). The use of lesson study combined with content representation in the planning of physics lessons during field practice to develop pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 27(5), 533-553. doi: 10.1007/s10972-016-9473-4.
• Masters, H. L., & Park Rogers, M. A. (2018). Examining early elementary teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for teaching scientific explanations. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 29, 223-242. doi:10.1080/1046560X.2018.1432228.
• Mayer, R. H. (1999). Designing instruction for constructivist learning. In C. M. Reigeluth (Eds.), Instructional design theories and models (Vol.II) (pp.140-159). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Merrill, M. D. (1983). Component display theory. In C. M. Reigeluth (Eds.), Instructional design theories and models (pp. 82-330). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Merrill, M. D., Tennyson, R. D., & Posey, L. O. (1992). Teaching concepts: An instructional design guide (2nd ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
• Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage Publications.
• Mutton,T., Hagger, H., & Burn, K. (2011). Learning to plan, planning to learn: The developing expertise of beginning teachers. Teachers and Teaching, 17, 399-416. doi:10.1080/13540602.2011.580516.
• Nayır, F., & Cınkır, S. (2014). Mentor teachers, administrators and pedagogical formation students’ problems associated with teaching practice and possible recommendations. International Journal of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, 4, 71-86.
• Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307–332. doi: 10.3102/00346543062003307
• Reigeluth, C. M., & Moore, J. (1999). Cognitive education and cognitive domain. In C. M. Reigeluth (Eds.), Instructional design theories and model: A new paradigm of instructional theory (Vol. II) (pp. 49-68). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Richardson, V. (2003). Preservice teachers’ beliefs. In J. Raths & A. C. McAninch (Eds.), Teacher beliefs and classroom performance: The impact of teacher education (Vol. 6) (pp. 1-22). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing.
• Seidel, T., Blomberg, G., & Renkl, A. (2013). Instructional strategies for using video in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 34, 56-65. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2013.03.004
• Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15, 4-14.
• Tennyson, R. D., & Cocchiarella, M. J. (1986). An empirically based instructional design theory for teaching concepts. American Educational Research Association, 56, 40-71.
• Tillema, H. (2000). Belief change towards self-directed learning in student teachers immersion in practice or reflection on action. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 575–591. doi:10.1016/S0742-051X(00)00016-0
• Unver, G., & Kursunlu, E. (2014). Connecting the theory and practice in preschool teacher education. International Journal of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, 4, 39-54.
• Van Driel, J., Beijaard, D., & Verloop, N. (2001). Professional development and reform in science education: The role of teachers’ practical knowledge. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(2), 137-158. doi: 10.1002/1098-2736(200102)38:2<137::AID-TEA1001>3.0.CO;2-U.
• Wittwer, J., & Renkl, A. (2008). Why instructional explanations often do not work: A framework for understanding the effectiveness of instructional explanations. Educational Psychologist, 43, 49-64. doi:10.1080/00461520701756420.
• Zeichner, K. (2010). Rethinking the connections between campus courses and field experiences in college-and university-based teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 61, 89-99. doi:10.1177/0022487109347671.