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

Y

10

Preservice Teachers; Elective Courses; Microteaching; Investigations; Student Experience; Career Readiness; Qualitative Research; Semi Structured Interviews; Focus Groups; Teaching Skills; Skill Development; Observation; Self Efficacy; Metacognition; Theory Practice Relationship; Instructional Effectiveness; Course Evaluation; Student Teacher Attitudes; Knowledge Base for Teaching; Teaching Methods; Undergraduate Students; Participant Satisfaction; Foreign Countries

1554-5210

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.

As Provided

18

2015

EJ1062876