Renewable Assignments in Teacher Education: A Mixed-Methods Study

• In Event: Open Education: Empirical Evidence on Innovations Across Disciplines

Abstract

Background. OER creation and use have been quite limited in prekindergarten through high school (PreK-12) educational contexts even though K-12 educators overwhelmingly rate OER curriculum as high quality and effective at encouraging deep learning (Seaman & Seaman, 2020). This is due to lack of awareness of OER (Seaman & Seaman, 2020), limited K-12 OER available, and challenges discovering and evaluating resources (de los Arcos et al., 2015). Teacher education programs provide an opportunity to increase awareness of OER and develop open materials as part of the learning process through open pedagogy. Open pedagogy empowers students as creators of content which is shared with and used by others (Jhangiani, 2017). Renewable assignments are a form of open pedagogy where students are invited to openly license and publicly share the artifact that is created (Wiley & Hilton, 2018).

Aim & Method. A 14-week course entitled Language, Literacy, and Educational Technology was redesigned to include a renewable assignment. In Fall 2016, prior to the redesign, candidates designed and implemented a K-12 inquiry unit that incorporated technology. In 2019, the project was redesigned as a renewable assignment to provide the candidates with increased choice as they produced a classroom learning object (e.g. unit plan, asynchronous module, etc.) that effectively incorporated technology, including the option to adapt or remix existing OER, and were invited to share their work openly with others on OER Commons.

This mixed-method study examined the effects of a renewable assignment on teacher candidates’ grades before (Fall 2016; n=28) and after the course redesign (Fall 2019 & Fall 2021, n=27) and explored student perceptions. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the grades of teacher candidates in each of the cohorts and understand the effects of the renewable assignment before and after implementation. Additionally, thematic analysis methods were used to analyze interviews and written reflections of nine participants from the Fall 2019 cohort to contextualize the quantitative data and understand perceptions of the assignment.

Findings. Quantitative results show a similar level of performance with a median grade of 92% for the traditional assignment versus 92% and 90% for the renewable assignment. While the median grade was comparatively similar, overall grades demonstrate a decrease in the number of teacher candidates earning an A grade, with 61% earning an A in Fall 2016 and 53% earning an A in Fall 2021. Qualitative data revealed that the teacher candidate’s awareness of OER improved; however, candidates showed lowered self-efficacy on the renewable assignment, including uncertainty of the effectiveness of their work, unease about selecting a CC license, and challenges in writing for others.

Significance. Insights from this study reveal that the opportunity to learn about, explore, adapt, and create OER provided the teacher candidates with a fuller understanding and awareness of OER. Yet, this was their first opportunity to engage with OER resulting in discomfort and uncertainty with their work. The findings point to the need for greater use of OER and open pedagogy in teacher education programs to improve awareness and use in PK-12 contexts.

Author

• Jennifer Van Allen, Lehman College - CUNY
  Presenting Author