Self-Viewing With Structured Viewing Guides

• In Event: Translating Thought Into Action: How Digital Video Use Benefits Teachers

Abstract

In this paper, a study is reported about the use of low-tech instant video feedback as a tool for learning to teach. The research question is: Does the use of “portable video tool kits” (PVTKs) in combination with structured viewing guides (SVGs) in a context of collegial consultation help raise the quality of instructional behavior?

Two cohorts of student teachers in primary teacher education formed the experimental group (N=23). They filmed each others’ reading comprehension lessons using PVTKs and used SVGs to analyse and discuss the teaching behaviors recorded. SVGs are lists of “viewing points”, i.e. observation items regarding effective teaching behaviours, subdivided in categories. Students in a control group (N=140) did not engage in these activities, but received only verbal feedback on their lessons from their mentors.
In the experimental group, qualitative data were collected, i.e. reactions to statements about the effectiveness of video use and brief learner reports. Also, senior teacher educators rated the video clips produced by students on whether and how well the teaching behaviors they wanted to practice were actually displayed in the lesson fragments shown.

Comparison between the experimental and control groups showed that the students in the experimental group experienced greater progress towards mastering skills in teaching reading comprehension than those in the control group. Seven out of 31 measures showed statistically significant gains for the experimental group. For a further five measures, the experimental group showed non-significant gains half a scale point larger than the differences found in the control group. The experimental group experienced progress notably in making the content of their lessons concrete, bringing their pupils to engage actively with the subject matter by means of questioning, clarifying their expectations as teachers and encouraging cooperative learning.
The expert ratings of the video clips indicate that the students actually displayed in their lessons almost all the teaching behaviors they had selected for practicing. The student teachers selected particularly such skills for practicing that shape teacher initiative in classroom interaction with pupils, i.e. giving clear instructions, asking starting and elaborating questions and organising cooperative learning. The analysis of the other qualitative data indicated that by generating visual feedback on their teaching the student teachers participating in the intervention discovered that they had a better command of (specific aspects of) teaching than they had previously thought and that they could analyse strong and weak points in their own teaching enabling them to determine and focus on targets for improvement. Moreover, the work with the PVTKs and the SVGs encouraged them to film their own lessons more often and discuss them with their fellow students with an eye to improving their teaching.
In conclusion, this study shows that not only did student teachers experience progress in acquiring specific teaching skills, but this was also corroborated by independent expert judgment. This means that pinpointing effective teaching behaviors and having student teachers engage in targeted practice and analysis of these behaviors has the potential of promoting personally relevant competence development.

Author

• Niels C. Brouwer, Radboud University Nijmegen