Pre-service Teacher Engagement Research Articles

Generative AI in Academic Research: A Descriptive Study on Awareness, Gender Usage, and Views among Pre-Service Teachers

This study investigated the engagement of Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) with Generative AI (GAI) tools in their research projects, focusing on their awareness, source of awareness, usage pattern based on gender, and views of GAI tools in academic research. We adopted a descriptive survey method to collect data from one hundred and four PSTs across five institutions in Ghana using a five-point Likert-type survey instrument, which included an open-ended question. The quantitative data were analyzed using means, frequencies, percentages, standard deviations, and an independent samples t-test. The findings revealed that PSTs are familiar with GAI tools, especially ChatGPT and Google Bard. They learned about these tools through personal searches, recommendations from friends, and social media platforms. The PSTs used these tools in writing all chapters of their research projects, with the Introduction Chapter being the most common area of application, followed by the Discussion and Findings Chapter, the Literature Review Chapter, Methodology, and Summary and Conclusion. We also identified a significant gender disparity in the use of GAI tools, with male PSTs exhibiting a higher frequency of use compared to their female counterparts. Nonetheless, both genders expressed a positive attitude towards GAI tools in academic research, noting among other benefits that these tools provided them with confidence and independence in their research writing. However, they also recognized inaccuracies in the information provided by GAI tools, which led to skepticism about relying solely on these tools for their research projects. Consequently, they expressed a preference for support from their research supervisors, highlighting the importance of a balanced approach that combines the use of GAI tools with human supervision in academic research. While we recommend the integrating of GAI tools in teacher education programs, we strongly suggest that such integration should be complemented with comprehensive guidance on how these tools can be effectively used by PSTs to conduct original and advanced research.

“You Learn So Much from Reading for Pleasure”: Exploring a Reading for Pleasure Pedagogy Impact on Pre-Service Teachers’ Literate Identities

Proficiency in literacy provides an essential foundation for citizens to participate fully and effectively in society. Research highlights a strong correlation between frequent reading and strong literacy outcomes for students and emphasises the benefits of a Reading for Pleasure (RfP) pedagogy on student reading motivation and attainment. As teachers are responsible for students’ literate development, the ability to teach literacy and the development of a literate identity thus form integral components of initial teacher education. There are studies revealing the important connection between teachers’ literate identities and their students’ reading engagement and literacy outcomes; however, less is known about the formation of pre-service teachers’ literate identities. This case study sought to investigate the impact of pre-service teacher engagement with Reading for Pleasure practices as they reflected on their literate identities. During the study, four student teachers in their final year of a Bachelor of Education (Primary) degree in an urban university in NSW, Australia, met weekly for six weeks to engage with Reading for Pleasure practices. Data were collected through participant observation notes, focus group discussions, and a questionnaire completed at the start and the end of the study. This study was informed with a consideration of complexity theory, and an analysis was made of participant’s reflections on RfP, as expressed through the intersecting systems within which initial teacher education is situated. Framed by the understanding that knowledge is socially constructed, this paper outlines how participants found benefit in Reading for Pleasure in forming their literate identities.

The Impact of Teacher and Peer Support on Preservice EFL Teachers' Work Engagement in Their Teaching Practicum: The Mediating Role of Teacher L2 Grit and Language Teaching Enjoyment.

The academic study of work engagement among pre-service teachers during their practicum has been notably sparse, with even fewer investigations examining the influence of environmental stimuli on their engagement levels and the role of individual psychological and emotional factors throughout the practicum. To address this research gap, the present study, informed by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theory, has developed a structural equation model. This model posits teacher support and peer support as stimuli, L2 grit and the foreign language teaching enjoyment as the organism, and the work engagement of pre-service teachers as the behavioral response. A quantitative survey was conducted among 516 preservice EFL teachers to examine the relationships among variables in the model. Findings showed direct predictions of work engagement by teacher support, L2 grit, and FLTE. L2 grit and FLTE sequentially mediated the relationship between teacher and peer support and work engagement. This study identified the factors influencing preservice EFL teachers' work engagement, contributing to a deeper understanding of their psychological characteristics and emotional experiences during the teaching practicum. Additionally, the study offers practical implications for universities and internship schools to enhance preservice teachers' work engagement during the practicum.

Engagement of Preservice Teachers in the Assessment of Their Work-Integrated Learning

Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) stands as a formally supervised and assessed program designed for preservice teachers to apply and refine their teaching skills within school settings. This study addresses the inquiry of how to effectively involve preservice teachers in the assessment of their WIL experiences. Employing participatory action research (PAR) as the chosen methodology, the research engaged with nine preservice teachers actively involved in WIL, a teaching practice officer, and five teachers serving as mentors to the students. Data collection was performed utilizing the principles of free-attitude interviews and participant observation. The ensuing data underwent interpretation and analysis employing the framework of critical discourse analysis. The findings revealed a pronounced need for collaborative efforts among assessors, mentor teachers, lecturers, and preservice teachers. Establishing robust collaboration emerged as the most viable solution for engaging preservice teachers in the assessment of their Work-Integrated Learning experiences.

A Case Study of Responsive Middle Grades Education in a Laboratory Middle School in the USA

This case study describes responsive approaches to middle grades education and teacher education at Laboratory Middle School (LMS), a subunit of the college of education in a public university in the southeastern USA. LMS was established with a mission to serve rural students who had experienced struggles in the regular school system and to serve as a clinical site for the preparation of middle grades teachers, counselors, and school nurses. Many students at LMS have faced challenges due to physical or cognitive exceptionalities or because of traumatic experiences. Thus, programs and practices in the school must respond to the developmental stage of the young adolescents whom it serves, as well as the many varied individual needs of the learners. The conceptual frame for the study is “responsiveness” as defined by seminal middle-level literature (e.g., This We Believe), and the theoretical underpinnings are constructed from theories of stage–environment fit and human ecology. The study employs a case study design and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. The case report describes the LMS context and details manifestations of responsiveness at LMS organized in three categories: (a) culture and community; (b) curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and (c) leadership and organization. The authors offer four sets of implications for the design and delivery of responsive programming in middle-level schools: (a) a holistic approach to young adolescent education; (b) commitment to continuous improvement; (c) theoretical pragmatism in pedagogical practices, programs, and policies; and (d) engagement of preservice teachers in immersive field experiences.

Using Digital Learning Platforms to Enhance the Instructional Design Competencies and Learning Engagement of Preservice Teachers

Given the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated radical changes to the teaching landscape, employing digital learning platforms in the professional training of teachers has become imperative. The instructional design competencies are among the most important competencies for today’s teachers. Therefore, it is necessary to test the effectiveness of digital learning platforms to provide teachers with the required competencies, both cognitive and practical, and to help them improve these competencies. Accordingly, in this study, we aimed to measure the effects of using the Google Classroom platform to develop instructional design competences and learning engagement among preservice teachers in Saudi Arabia. We used a quasi-experimental approach, with a one-group design (pre- and posttest) in this study, which included 61 female student teachers. Three measurement instruments were utilised, namely, the achievement test, the product evaluation card, and the learning engagement scale. The results of our study showed that using Google Classroom as a digital learning platform was effective in helping the preservice teachers acquire and develop their cognitive and practical competencies in instructional design. Our results further revealed high levels of learning engagement at cognitive, behavioural, and social levels among the preservice teachers who participated in learning instructional design through the Google Classroom platform. Our findings emphasise the need for greater investment in digital learning platforms to support preservice teachers’ professional training, as these students can benefit from the potential these platforms offer in developing their instructional design competencies.

Zoom engagement of pre-service teachers during emergency remote classes

Zoom engagement of pre-service teachers during emergency remote classes

Collaborative action research as a reflective tool for pre-service EFL teachers’ inclusion

ABSTRACT Pre-service teachers face numerous challenges as beginner teachers at schools during their first practices. Therefore, teachers must reflect on their practices to solve problems and develop professionally. There are several ways to reflect on practices. Collaborative action research (CAR), as a mode of inquiry, is a method of inquiry to explore its effects on pre-service teachers’ inclusion and engagement. Thus, this study aims to investigate CAR’s benefits in enhancing reflections, inclusions, and engagement of pre-service teachers. In this study, 15 Iranian pre-service English language teachers’ perceptions of CAR were qualitatively explored through semi-structured interviews, reflective journals, and observations to know the effect of CAR in developing reflection and inclusion. The thematic analysis of the findings found numerous advantages for pre-service teachers’ personal, professional, and social development. Through CAR, pre-service teachers gain more confidence, become independent, reflect individually and socially, think and act flexibly, receive help and support, observe and predict events, and search for novel approaches and changes. This study will inform pre-service teachers, teachers, and teacher educators to utilize this form of professional development in their practices.

Seeing the Unseen: Applying Intersectionality and Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) Frameworks in Preservice Teacher Education

Background/Context: This paper explores how intersectionality and DisCrit can be used as analytic tools to scaffold preservice teachers’ ability to see the ways in which referrals to and services within special education reproduce inequities as a function of race and perceptions of ability that are rooted in White, middle-class, able-bodied norms. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This qualitative study analyzes White preservice teachers’ understanding and application of intersectionality and DisCrit. Applying critical theoretical perspectives, preservice teachers engage in identifying instances of oppression in society and schools and naming the resulting harm to Black students and families. This paper focuses on the following research questions: How do White preservice teachers engage with critical frameworks intended to unearth the impacts of racism and ableism on Black students? What do their responses reveal about preservice teachers’ level of critical consciousness? Population/Participants/Subjects: Participants in this study were preservice general education teachers in the last semester of coursework of an intensive 12-month master’s program in secondary education at a large predominantly White Midwestern university. This study focuses on four self-identified White able-bodied and one White (dis)abled preservice teacher who represent exemplars of the types of engagement evidenced by preservice teachers within the course. Intervention/Program/Practice: The course that was the site of this study focused on preparing preservice teachers to teach and support Students Identified with (Dis)abilities in middle and high school classrooms. The first portion of the course focused on analyzing the history of racism and ableism in special education using critical frameworks. These class sessions provided preservice teachers with frameworks they could apply to their experiences at their school sites and language they needed to discuss racism and ableism. Research Design: This article reports on a qualitative case study of general education preservice teacher engagement with the critical frameworks of intersectionality and disability critical race theory (DisCrit) in a predominantly White teacher education program. Data Collection and Analysis: For the duration of the course, video recordings of whole group discussions and audio recordings of small group discussions were collected. Descriptive and in vivo coding were employed during the first level of coding to closely highlight participants’ perspectives that were rooted in their own language. The second level of analysis captured the content of the ideas expressed by preservice teachers when engaging and employing critical frameworks, and the third level of analysis captured preservice teacher engagement in ways that demonstrated either active adoption, quiet adoption, resistant engagement, or resistant deflection of course material. Findings/Results: There is a fluidity in which preservice teachers move through levels of engagement (active adoption, quiet adoption, resistant engagement, or resistant deflection) when explicitly taught critical frameworks to help them identify and disrupt inequity, in this case, racism and ableism in schools. For example, a preservice teacher may experience dissonance when there is misalignment between their previously held assumptions and new learning. At first, they may resist this knowledge and then adopt new perspectives over time. They may also go back and forth between resistance and adoption, or they may remain resistant throughout the course. Additionally, a preservice teacher may actively adopt course content and frameworks that align with their previous orientations and quietly or actively adopt new frameworks over time. Conclusions/Recommendations: Teaching critical frameworks is an important tool to understanding preservice teachers’ orientations toward inequity. Choosing critical frameworks that undergird teacher education courses supports the development of objectives that are antiracist/antiableist. It also provides teacher educators guidance in choosing materials/artifacts that will encourage preservice teachers to discuss the implications of those frameworks. Critical frameworks provide a method of helping preservice teachers see inequity that aspects of their privilege render invisible and provide an assessment tool for teacher educators to analyze preservice teachers’ orientations toward inequity and how this manifests in their orientation toward students of historically marginalized groups.

How Does Career Calling Influence Preservice Teachers' Learning Engagement? A Multiple Mediating Roles of Occupational Self-Efficacy and Vocational Outcome Expectation.

This study used social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to explore the relationships between career calling, occupational self-efficacy, vocational outcome expectation, and learning engagement among preservice teachers at a normal university in China. Data from 1,029 preservice teachers were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. The results revealed that career calling was found to be significantly and positively affected on learning engagement; occupational self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectation were identified as key mediators of this relationship. These findings advance our knowledge of how best to promote the learning engagement of preservice teachers and may inform the future design of teacher development programs.

Preservice Teachers’ Professional Engagement and Their Ability to Choose Teaching Techniques

This study aims to investigate the relationship between the engagement of the preservice teacher to the teaching profession, and their ability to choose teaching techniques. The study adopted correlational survey research. The sample group is the students studying at the faculty of education of a state university in the Eastern Anatolia Region, and the preservice teachers taking pedagogical formation training. The obtained findings have shown that there are significant differences between the preservice teachers who have taken externally pedagogical training and the preservice teachers studying at the faculty of education in terms of their engagement to the teaching profession, their skills to choose teaching techniques, and other sub-dimensions of the scales. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the preservice teachers who took pedagogical formation training had higher average scores for professional engagement and dedication to the professional dimension; the mean scores were higher than the preservice teachers studying in the faculty of education in terms of the positive prediction and competence perception regarding the technical selection dimension. In addition, a significant relationship was found between the professional engagement of pre-service teachers and their skills in the selection of teaching techniques.

Experiential Learning-Based Service-Learning Pedagogy for Civic Engagement of Pre-service Teachers

Experiential Learning-Based Service-Learning Pedagogy for Civic Engagement of Pre-service Teachers

Preservice science and mathematics teachers’ acculturation into communities of practice: A call for undergraduate research in science and mathematics teacher preparation

Current mathematics and science standards, namely the Common Core State Standards of Mathematics (CCSSM) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), emphasize engaging students in mathematical and scientific practices. This review article is driven by the question: How can we expect science and mathematics teachers to appropriately engage students in the practices of the scientific and mathematical disciplines, when most teachers themselves lack experience practicing as scientists and mathematicians? To address this question, we review the literature on teachers’ understanding of their discipline’s practices, disciplinary practices as means to engage in inquiry, and how preservice teacher engagement in undergraduate research experiences may contribute to fostering desirable understandings of their disciplines’ practices. We further posit that the communities of practice framework allows teacher educators to conceptualize how undergraduate research can foster understandings of inquiry through engagement in science and mathematical practices, thereby enabling science and mathematics teachers to construct communities of scientific and mathematical practice, respectively, in their own classrooms. We conclude with a call to both provide undergraduate research experiences to preservice science and mathematics teachers as well as an exploration of research that is needed to fully conceptualize the benefits of undergraduate research for preservice science and mathematics teachers.

Exploring Preservice Teachers Engagement With Live Models of Universal Design for Learning and Blended Learning Course Delivery

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Blended Learning (BL) formats, are widely adopted across K–12 learning environments. Upon graduation, preservice teachers may be expected to implement UDL and BL practices. The present study was motivated by the need to provide preservice teachers with live modeling of UDL and BL concepts. Learning analytics data from 197 preservice teachers was examined for engagement with UDL/BL Access features (location, day-of-the-week, time-of-day, and regularity), Content features (screencasts and quizzes), and to determine if there was a relationship between engagement and achievement. Examination of the learning management system login data revealed regular access to the digital content across differing locations, week days, and time of day. Associations were significant between academic performance and all features. Designing the BL digital course components following UDL principles appears to have served as a self-regulation enabler for preservice teachers themselves while providing exemplars to adopt in their future practice.

Personal Traits and Levels of Class Engagement of Pre-Service Teachers

It is thought that determining the relationship between the personal traits of pre-service teachers and their level of class engagement will shed light on the development and implementation of the curricula in the faculties of education. From this point of view, it was aimed in this study to determine the personality traits of pre-service teachers according to the five-factor method of personality and to determine how they affect their level of class engagement. The personality traits and the level of class engagement of the pre-service teachers in the scope of this study are examined by gender, field of teaching, grade, whether or not they willingly study in their departments, and the settlement variables they grow in. Single and relational screening models have been utilized in this research. The study group of the research consists of 372 pre-service teachers studying in the 3rd and 4th grades of Trakya University. In the research, "class engagement scale" and "big five personality traits test" were used as data collection tools. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the pre-service teachers' level of engagement in the class was "medium" and "high". It was determined that pre-service teachers had the most “Agreeableness” trait of personality and the lowest rate as “Neuroticism” trait of personality. Pre-service teachers' level of engagement in class did not differ significantly according to their personality traits.

A student-centred digital technology approach: The relationship between intrinsic motivation, learning climate and academic achievement of physical education pre-service teachers

There is a lack of research on the use of digital technology in physical education teacher education (PETE) and its relationship with the learning and engagement of pre-service teachers. Furthermore, research reports low engagement of pre-service teachers in digital approaches that do not promote active learning and are mostly teacher-centred. This paper aims to: (a) explore the relationship between a student-centred digital technology approach and the pre-service teachers’ intrinsic motivation, learning climate and academic achievement; and (b) test the relationship between learning climate and intrinsic motivation as possible predictors of academic achievement. The student-centred digital technology approach was designed following an adaptation of the five-phase pedagogical guidelines for teaching with emerging technologies. Two intact classes ( n = 110 students) and one teacher educator were involved in the study. Following a mixed-method approach, quantitative data was collected on pre-service teachers’ intrinsic motivation, learning climate and academic achievement. Qualitative data explored pre-service teachers’ tweets and learning blogs. Choice and novelty were two central tenets that conditioned high levels of intrinsic motivation and academic achievement. The study provides support for the use of active learning environments where pre-service teachers are involved in creative content production using digital technology in PETE programmes. Given the growing role of digital technology for learning in educational policies and new physical education curricula, we advocate for the publication of more research-based experiences on the integration of digital technology in PETE programmes. The transferability of such teaching and learning experiences to pre-service teachers’ and physical education teachers’ practice would be especially worthwhile.

Reading This Bridge Called My Back for pedagogies of coalition, remediation, and a razor’s edge

In this article, I examine the engagement of pre-service teachers with US feminist of color theory. Centering coalition relations, re-mediation, and dialogic narrative, I argue that the field of women of color thought is pedagogical in thinking through the intersectional and multidimensional problems of teaching and schooling, particularly when working with under-resourced schools and displaced and dispossessed students and their families. A framework based on the intellectual labor of US women of color, where the pedagogies of coalition, re-mediation, and dialogic narratives create powerful epistemological interventions that support pre-service teachers as they think about the complex problems of schools in this era of the defunding and the dismantlement of public education. It is a US women of color pedagogy that engages teachers in developing alternative accounts of their relationship to the world, how these new accounts are unavoidably theoretical and provide a starting point for new thinking about pedagogy, power, and praxis.

Developing deep understanding of teacher education practice through accessing and responding to pre-service teacher engagement with their learning

ABSTRACTIn this research we examined the ways we accessed and responded to students’ engagement with a set of pedagogical principles of teacher education focused on meaningful physical education. The research was cross-cultural, taking place in universities in Country 1 and Country 2. Self-study of teacher education practice (S-STEP) methodology guided collection and analysis of the following data over one year: lesson planning and reflection documents, and critical friend and ‘meta-critical friend’ interactions. Findings indicate the value in teacher educators becoming more intentional and systematic in how they access student perspectives related to engagement with learning experiences of pedagogical innovations in pre-service teacher education, while also emphasising the challenges in doing so. The concepts of reflection on- and in-action provided a framework for understanding how being more intentional about accessing student perspectives can be enacted in teacher education practice. Our experiences demonstrate how focusing on student engagement can support the professional learning of teacher educators through enabling a deeper understanding of the challenges faced in being responsive to students’ engagement with their learning.

How engaged are pre-service teachers in the United States?

Using the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), findings are reported from the largest ever longitudinal study of engagement among pre-service teachers. Levels of engagement are investigated in 2013 (N = 1609) and 2016 (N = 1413) across 256 U.S. institutions. Using multilevel models, findings indicated that female, white pre-service teachers were less engaged than their male, minority counterparts with small to moderate effect sizes that differed by year. Institutional type, sector, and size were also significantly associated with pre-service teacher engagement. ACT prior achievement scores, however, were not associated with pre-service teacher engagement in either year. Implications for teacher preparation are discussed.

Course Redesign to Improve Pre-service Teacher Engagement and Confidence to Teach Mathematics: A Case Study in Three Parts

This article examines pedagogical changes to a mathematics education course for preservice teachers (PSTs) over a three-year period. Transactional Distance Theory (TDT) is used as a conceptual framework underpinning the course redesign. A case study of one campus (Campus A) is presented. It is chosen for analysis because, of the three campuses on which this course is taught, it is this Campus that starkly illuminates the unfolding, three-year drama of course redesign.