Investigating the authenticity of “students” in microteaching for science pre-service teacher education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Clinical experience is important in science teacher preparation. Complexity in authentic science teaching may overwhelm Pre-serviceTeachers (PST) and need to be tailored into simplified teachingtasks. Microteaching is widely used in formal teacher preparation programs as an advantageous approach to simplified teaching. The authenticity in the context of microteaching impacts its effectiveness in preparing PSTs for target practices. However, few studies directly examine this issue. Purpose In this study, we investigated the authenticity in students by comparing the teaching practices of two groups of PSTs leveraged by microteaching with real students and peers who played the role of students. Sample Seventy-threePSTs were separated into two groups that received the intervention of working with peers (P-group, 36 PSTs) or students (S-group, 37 PSTs)during microteaching. Design and methods ThePSTs accomplished four science teaching assignments, including threemicroteachings about three discrete science-teaching practices and one macro-teaching in an authentic setting that combined all three practices. We used a two-sample t-test to compare the initial states of the two groups of PSTs prior to the intervention of working with peers or students. Then we used hierarchical regression to examine how the three microteachings contributed to the PSTs’macro-teaching. Finally, we investigated the properties of microteaching where two groups had significantly different average scores. Results ThePSTs from the two groups had no significant difference in teaching experience and teaching competencies prior to the intervention of working with peers or students. The three microteachings cumulativelycontributed 25% (R2score) of the macro teaching. We observed a significant difference between the two groups in the third micro-teaching, but not in their macro-teaching. The P-group performed better than their S-group counterparts probably because their peers were more cooperative and knowledgeable than real students. Conclusion Microteaching with peers and students was equally effective in preparing PSTs for authentic teaching. Working with real students does not guarantee a better transfer of teaching practices to authentic teaching. This process is non-linear and may require explicit reflection on the role of student property in microteaching.