Pre-service Teacher Training Research Articles

Rethinking Higher Education Unit Design: Embedding Universal Design for Learning in Online Studies

Inclusive education in Australia has resulted in a concerted push for the differentiation of pedagogical teaching approaches by educators across Kindergarten to Year 12 (K-12) learning environments. Such approaches have been shown to meet a diverse range of learner needs found in today's classrooms. While progress is evident at the primary and secondary levels of education, implementing effective inclusive practices in higher education appears stagnant. Utilising the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in a fully online pre-service teacher training unit, multiple means of representation of the learning content and multiple means of engagement were explicitly incorporated into the online unit design. This approach aimed to proactively support the engagement of all students in an online teaching and learning environment. This study provides preliminary evidence that the application of UDL principles resulted in higher levels of student engagement and lower rates of student attrition.

Pre-Service Teachers Nature of Science Views After Engaging with COVID-19 as a Socioscientific Issue

This study investigates undergraduate pre-service understanding and views of nature of science (NOS) before and after engaging with a socioscientific issues-based unit based on a the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 unit consisted of lessons about viruses and bacteria, COVID-19, the spread of disease, and NOS. The data sources consisted of pre- and post-semi-structured interviews and pre- and post-questionnaires. After the unit in post-interviews, most students held transitional views of each NOS aspect (tentativeness, process, society, creativity). However, some students had informed views of tentativeness and process of science and naïve views of society and creativity in science. Pre-service teachers tended to rely on examples from the COVID-19 pandemic when explaining their NOS understandings, which resulted from teaching about NOS with socioscientific issues in a contextualized approach. We discuss the implications of these results for future pre-service teacher training with socioscientific issues.

Understanding preservice teachers' affective responses to VR-enabled scientific experiments.

Preservice teachers' preparedness, perception, and affect toward certain technology systems influence the student acquisition of science knowledge, process skills, teaching innovation, and willingness to use technology in their classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' affective responses to a virtual reality-enabled scientific experiment (VaSE) system. Fifty-one preservice teachers majoring in educational technology participated in the study. They were divided into two groups, and their reactions were measured separately on two occasions. The first occasion used a standard system following the principle of Donald Norman's affective design model (ADM). The VaSE system was then revised with a strict version of ADM before the participants' reactions were measured for a second time. The positive and negative affect scale (PANAS) was utilized for affective state evaluation. Semi-structured interviews that focused on affective experiences were organized using an ADM framework and conducted immediately after the participants used VaSE. The results indicated that the positive affect experienced by the preservice teachers was significantly enhanced, and the negative affect was significantly weakened. Academic level, gender, and prior experience were important random effect factors that impacted the affective experience. It was also revealed that participants were more likely to be affected by immersion and interactivity in terms of enhancing positive affect and were more likely to be affected by behavioral layer elements in terms of weakening negative affect. A conclusion has been drawn to provide theoretical and practical suggestions for training preservice teachers in ways that improve their ability to integrate technology into the classroom.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education in University: Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions

: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, an integration of the four disciplines, has been promoted in schools and universities in Malaysia. However, the teachers’ readiness in applying STEM has been an apprehension of not only the school administrators, but also the public. The implementation of STEM is observed from the teachers' abilities to organize learning environments that are created to strengthen students’ 21st-century skills. As such, the teachers' ability to implement and execute the plan are a concern. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify and evaluate preservice teachers' perceptions of their readiness, experiences, and effort in practising STEM education, as well as their degree of confidence in STEM education teaching and learning. A correlational research design was employed in this research to collect data from 113 science-based pre-service teacher trainees in a public university in Malaysia. The participants answered the questionnaire on their perceptions of their experiences and confidence level in learning STEM skills in their university courses and their views towards activities on STEM. Reflecting on the findings, this study has implications for the pre-service teacher trainees (students), faculty and organization as a whole in the preparation towards the execution of STEM in terms of strategies and intervention in school. This is especially advantageous for the university to raise awareness of the benefits of university STEM-related programs to a diverse background of students.

Awareness of Co-Teaching Administration among Teachers of Resource Room Program

Collaborative teaching (co-teaching) is a method of providing educational services to students with learning disabilities (LDs) in general education classes, and it also reduces educational dispersion as a result of these students joining remedial instruction in special education programs. This descriptive research aimed to identify the level of awareness of co-teaching among teachers of resource room program (RRP). A total of 162 Omani teachers of RRP responded on a co-teaching scale. This scale consisted of 28 items distributed into five domains related to the concept of co-teaching, as well as co-teaching models, in addition to the elements, benefits and requirements of co-teaching. The results indicated that, according to the means and standard deviations of the scale domains, the teachers’ awareness of co-teaching was as follows: a low level of awareness of the elements, requirements and models of co-teaching, a moderate one of the benefits of co-teaching, and a high one of the concept of co-teaching. The outcomes of the t-test also showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the teachers’ awareness attributed to their specialization and teaching experience. This research recommended reconsidering the pre-service and in-service teacher training programs in Oman to align with the philosophy of co-teaching and raising awareness of it among Omani teachers and educational leaders.

The education of pre-service chemistry teachers, the content of innovation, methods and forms during COVID-19

Nowadays, the importance of science teaching for the economic growth of countries is emphasized. The stimuli for implementing the innovation process in all areas of undergraduate teacher training are the traditions of university education and the dynamics of knowledge growth in science and technology. The university educational system is aimed to develop the quality of learning. The paper objectives are to inform about the e-learning course, which is located on the website of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (Slovakia) entitled “Laboratory Practice in Analytical Chemistry”. This course focused on analytical methods offered by the Department of Chemistry as part of the bachelor’s degree program. This course of laboratory practice includes theoretical (studying texts) and practical parts (procedures). The Department of Chemistry, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra educates chemistry teachers with a combination of other disciplines for all types of schools. Education fluently develops the skills essential for a professional development pre-service teacher who lives in a technologically advanced world and economy. The current trends show that education and training pre-service chemistry teachers are changing and have a new cognitive strategy.

Australian Preservice Early Childhood Teachers’ Considerations of Natural Areas as Conducive and Important to Include in Educational Experiences

Understanding preservice early childhood teachers’ perspectives on education in nature is important in the context of risk aversion and the future of education for sustainability. In the present study, 296 early childhood preservice teachers examined 16 photographs of outdoor areas from four categories: park with fence, park without fence, grassy area, forest. They the selected photographs depicting areas they most preferred and least preferred. They then selected photographs depicting areas the considered most or least conduciveness to education. The participants also completed a series of questions related to their beliefs about education in nature ant the benefits for child development and health. There were clear associations between the areas participants preferred and those they considered educationally conducive. Likewise, there were associations between areas participants least preferred and their ratings of least conducive. The belief that nature experiences belong within school settings was the strongest predictor of perceived educational and developmental benefits. The findings suggest more opportunity to spend time in a range of natural environments and a belief in the importance of nature experiences should be emphasised in early childhood preservice teacher training.

Training pre-service teachers to enhanced digital education

ABSTRACT Teachers must be digitally competent at the beginning of their career. The main aim of this paper is to study whether specific training is necessary to enable pre-service teachers in Catalonia with the required level of teacher digital competence (TDC). Three cases are discussed. In the first case, TDC is self-assessed among first-year pre-service teachers (N = 1166). In the second, TDC is assessed among second year pre-service teachers who received specific training (N = 33). The third case measures TDC among third-year, pre-service teachers without any specific training in TDC (N = 151). Results reveal that pre-service teachers who are given specific training in TDC get better scores in the assessment compared to those who do not receive training. Practical implications on formative assessment emerge: specific training in TDC in higher education curricula must be practical and address methodological aspects of TDC.

МЕТОДИЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ВИВЧЕННЯ ОСНОВ ТЕОРІЇ ФЛУКТУАЦІЙ У КУРСІ ТЕОРЕТИЧНОЇ ФІЗИКИ ПЕДАГОГІЧНОГО УНІВЕРСИТЕТУ

The article deals with the theoretical aspects and practical implementation of the author's methodological approach in teaching the basics of fluctuation theory of the course of theoretical physics in Pedagogical University, which is important in the fundamental training of pre-service physics teachers. It is noted that despite the availability of various literary sources, methodological value and originality of the author's approaches in covering the main issues of the course, the need to improve the methodology of its teaching in modern conditions of modernization of higher pedagogical education in the context of European requirements and realities is quite obvious and natural. It is noted that the effective mastery of the basic principles of the theory of fluctuations of theoretical physics, taking into account the principles of fundamentality and professional orientation will contribute to the maximum conciseness of the mathematical apparatus, content compactness, unity, clarity and consistency of teaching material. The author proposes to study the fluctuations of the basic thermodynamic quantities of a macrosystem (energy, volume, density, temperature, entropy, pressure) using two Gibbs lemmas. Molecular scattering of light and its consequences are elucidated according to Rayleigh's law, in conditions when the dimensions of the inhomogeneities of the strucure due to the thermal motion of particles is small in comparison with the wavelength of light. The derivation of the Einstein-Smolukhovsky formula for Brownian motion is proposed according to primary sources with emphasis on the analysis of its physical essence, connection with the second law of thermodynamics, experimental determination based on it in the early twentieth century Boltzmann's constant as a decisive argument in favour of the molecular kinetic theory of the structure of matter and the whole concept of statistical physics. The organization of the educational process on the basis of the methodological approach that was proposed by the author testifies to its effectiveness, which is confirmed by the level of cognitive activity and the results of the final modular control of applicants in recent years. Key words: professional competence of pre-service physics teacher, theoretical physics, theory of fluctuations.

Learning analytics and flipped learning in online teaching for supporting preservice teachers’ learning of quantitative research methods

Research methods, including those of a quantitative nature, are an important part of preservice teacher training in Finland. However, quantitative research methods are considered challenging, often feared, and even hated among preservice teachers. This may be due to previous negative experiences and emotions associated with their use, which also influence other aspects of learning such as self-regulation, self-efficacy, and orientations. Given such circumstances, new ways to teach and support the learning of quantitative methods are needed. Here, we investigate the self-regulation, self-efficacy, orientations, and emotions of preservice teachers (N = 38) enrolled in a quantitative methods online course incorporating learning analytics and a flipped learning approach. Dispositional learning analytics data from five measurement points were used, and data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, internal consistency (Cronbach alpha), bootstrapped paired sample t-test (between first and final measurement point), and profiles based on mean. The results demonstrate that in this teaching context, preservice teachers’ time management skills can be improved, and task avoidance, anxiety, and boredom towards quantitative methods decreased. The meaning of these results from the teaching context perspective are also examined, as are the limitations and implications of this study.

Simulation Game in Quasi-Professional Training of Pre-Service Teachers

The relevance of the study lies in the need to highlight the problem of using simulation games in the quasi-professional training of pre-service teachers, bringing the educational process closer to the teachers’ real working conditions. The purpose of this paper is to cover the method of using simulation games and its various techniques in the quasi-professional training of pre-service teachers while studying psychological and pedagogical disciplines and to investigate the attitude and level of motivation of pre-service teachers towards the use of simulation games in training for professional activities. Theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison) were used to examine the problem in the psychological and pedagogical literature, clarify the nature and features of the process of training pre-service teachers for professional activities using simulation games, as well as empirical methods (questionnaires, observations, expert assessments, self-assessment) which were used to investigate the attitude and level of motivation of pre-service teachers towards the use of simulation games in training for professional activities. This paper article presents the structure of the simulation game and methods of working with the simulation game. The authors describe the advantages and disadvantages of using the simulation game in training of preservice teachers in higher education. The results of students’ survey on the specific features of organising simulation games and increasing their efficiency are presented: students’ attitude towards the use of simulation games in the educational process and the degree of activity of pre-service teachers in organising simulation games. The study confirmed that the use of simulation games in the quasi-professional training of pre-service teachers contributes to the effective formation of professional competence of pre-service teachers and forms a positive attitude towards the teaching profession, enhances learning interests and students’ interest in future professional activities. The paper shows that most students are interested in simulation games and believe that participation in simulation games has a positive effect not only on learning, mood, and relationships of students, but also plays a considerable role in their professional development. The practical significance of the study is to give examples and recommendations for the use of simulation games while studying psychological and pedagogical disciplines, as well as to outline the subject and social contexts of educational activities of future teachers

Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge and Opinion About Stem Education in Preschool

"In recent years, the focus of many researches has been on STEM activities and their application possibilities. The current research examines the opinion and experience of 85 Primary and Preschool Pedagogy specializations students regarding the use of STEM activities in kindergarten. The research tool was a questionnaire that included 18 questions: 5 questions with demographic data, 3 questions on how to integrate different experiential fields in pre-school activities, and 10 questions related to students’ knowledge and experience about STEM activities. The results show that students integrate different experiential fields. More than half of the respondents are unfamiliar with the term STEM and don’t have any personal experiences with STEM. These results highlight the necessity of integrating STEM Education in pre-service and in-service teachers training. The results also present students’ opinion about the essence and opportunities of STEM Education, and the cognitive, emotional, social, and physical skills/abilities most developed by STEM."

Korean Teachers' Perception of Future Education after COVID-19 and Direction of Technology Education

This study was conducted to predict changes in education after COVID-19 through a survey of Korean teachers' perceptions of future education and to set the future direction of technology education based on this. To this end, in this study, by analyzing the educational situation after the COVID-19 crisis, five major categories were defined: “Educational Goals”, “Curriculum”, “Teachers’ Competencies”, “School Education System”, and “Education System for Pre-service Teachers”. A total of 465 people participated in the survey from 16 cities and provinces in the Republic of Korea from February to May 2021 and responded to 16 questions according to the topic and using the online survey tool. As a result of the survey, Korean teachers responded that "adaptation to new technology" and "pursuit of social values" need to be emphasized as educational goals after COVID-19, and "individualized distance education" and "project-based learning" need to be actively applied in curriculum operation. They thought that teachers would be required to have competencies such as “technology literacy” and “creating learning affordances”. In addition, in school education, "interdisciplinary integration" and "safety and health education" must be emphasized, and the teachers answered that it is important to learn social values. In the course of training pre-service teachers, it was considered necessary to expand convergence and complex courses and to actively apply blended learning, deeper learning, and crossover learning. Based on this, the direction of future technology education can be established. For the development of technology education, it is necessary to change competencies from problem-solving to concept design, metaverse-based technology education needs to be conducted, and technology ethics need to be treated importantly.

Primary English Language Education Policy in Vietnam’s Disadvantaged Areas: Implementation Barriers

In the context of English as a global language, compulsory English language education at the primary level has become an inevitable trend in many non-English-speaking countries, including Vietnam. However, there have been concerns regarding how English language policy is realised across contextual settings, especially in rural and remote areas of Vietnam. Based on language-in-education goals, this article investigates English language policy implementation in Vietnam’s rural and remote areas from the perspective of primary English teachers from 2008 onwards. The present paper employs a desk review of existing literature, policy analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Data collected from multiple sources show the inequality of access to English language learning in the rural localities. The findings also indicate a significant gap between the current English language policy goals and implementation in the rural primary sector regarding slow execution, curriculum variations, limited teaching resources, inappropriate pedagogy, and assessment. These problems have been accelerated due to a shortage of teachers as well as inconsistency and limitations related to pre-service teacher training programs and recruitment. Identifying significant challenges of English language policy implementation in the Northwest of Vietnam helps shed light on primary English education in remote and marginalised regions. Therefore, the recommendations target policy makers, teacher educators, and stakeholders to assist primary English teachers in rural areas to improve and advance the success of primary English education in Vietnam’s remote areas and beyond the specific context to which it refers.

Developing computational thinking among preservice teachers

Training pre-service teachers in their own computational thinking is critical to building with them the discourse of CT didactics and its inclusion in the classroom with children in kindergarten and primary education. This research raises possible solutions and offers the results of an intervention carried out with 37 students in the 2nd year of the bachelor’s degree in Education. An intensive CT proposal, through a Scratch project, allows all students to reach a sufficient level of CT, regardless of their previous experience and initial level. All students improve their mastery of CT skills: Those who have a lower initial level can develop it from the ground up; those who already have a high level at the beginning improve their efficiency in solving questions where they have to mobilize CT.

Supporting preservice teachers to transition to university through a purposely structured Health and Physical Education subject

Transitioning to university can be challenging for many first-year students. This study focusses on a Health and Physical Education (HPE) subject delivered at an Australian regional university and designed to support first-year preservice teachers training to teach in primary schools. The aim of this mixed-methods research was to investigate if a purposely structured first-year HPE subject could support primary preservice teachers’ confidence to (1) be part of a community of learners; (2) promote success and retention at university; and (3) develop the skills for teaching HPE, specifically, Fundamental Movement Skills. Survey results indicated 90 per cent or more of the preservice teachers’ self-reported confidence across the three areas being investigated. Interview responses highlighted the importance of well-structured coursework and real-world learning experiences in developing confidence for teaching HPE.

English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Techno-Cultural Awareness Levels and Self-Reported Competencies

Abstract Introduction: In line with technological developments, many educational institutions offer students and teachers technical opportunities to benefit both inside and outside the schools. From the perspective of utilizing technology for a more effective language learning and teaching process, the present study aims to reveal techno-cultural awareness levels and self-reported competencies of secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers working in Turkey. Methods: A total of 36 secondary school teachers participated in the study, and data were collected through a questionnaire and focus group interview. The focus group interview was conducted after the quantitative data analysis so that the quantitative data results guided the focus group interviews. Results: The study’s findings show that participants have positive attitudes towards using technology in EFL classes However, most participants still feel they are not competent enough to utilize it for instructional purposes. In this context, all participants agree that the education they received during pre-service and in-service training offered by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) is insufficient. Discussion: The results obtained from data analysis are in parallel with some other studies. According to the findings, pre-service teacher training programmes need to be developed in line with the needs and expectations of teachers and learners regarding the use of technology in language teaching. Furthermore, it is suggested that teachers should be supported with much more comprehensive in-service training programmes to keep them up-to-date. In this regard, professional development programmes based explicitly on improving teachers’ technological awareness would motivate them to teach and significantly impact their self-reported capabilities. Limitations: This study was limited to 36 participants working in secondary schools in the same province. Therefore, the results cannot be generalized to all language teachers. Furthermore, the data collection process was carried out using questionnaires and focus group interviews. Conclusions: What makes this study significant is that teachers are central to the research. From this point forth, the current study results reveal the analysis of the data obtained from a small province of Turkey. However, the study shows significant and representative results because the teachers included in the study are individuals with the same educational levels. They have graduated from different universities in Turkey, and their working environments somewhat reflect Turkey’s working environments. Considering the differences between teachers’ positive attitudes towards technology utilization in EFL classes and their capabilities, it is argued that in-service and pre-service training programmes should be reviewed to overcome these deficiencies and keep up with the new developments.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Plurilingual Pedagogies

Summary In light of the growing diversity in European and Slovenian schools, equity-centered plurilingual pedagogies have gained prominence across the political, educational, and scientific spectrum. This gives particular weight to this study, which aims to contribute to the understanding of the complexity of factors that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The concept of Linguistically Sensitive Teaching (LST) was used as a lens to study pre-service teachers’ perceptions of plurilingual pedagogies in their educational context. More specifically, the study aims to examine pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the relevance of plurilingual pedagogies for their future profession and their understanding of the teachers’ competence in regard to the implementation of plurilingual pedagogies in Slovenian schools. Data from 27 pre-service primary education teachers from the University of Ljubljana of the Faculty of Education were examined. Reflection prompts were used to stimulate and guide the critical engagement of participants within the context of LST: a video, a document, and a SWOT analysis template. The findings illustrate pre-service teachers’ awareness of the relevance and the benefits of plurilingual pedagogies for their profession and their understanding of the complexity of factors, specifically in relation to teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The study highlights how the reflections of pre-service primary education teachers can support the development of future pre-service teacher training within initial teacher education. As such, it has positive implications for developing teacher education to better respond to the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse classes in today’s schools.

Examining Teachers’ Perceptions of E-Learning Tools: A Survey from Indonesian EAP Classrooms

Given the fact that online teaching has been widely implemented across the globe during this Covid-19 pandemic, teachers are required to have a high level of IT skills to be able to conduct online teaching. It is without exception that EAP (English for Academic Purpose) teachers need to familiarize themselves with electronic devices due to the benefits they have to offer in an e-learning environment. The current study aims at examining teachers’ perceptions of using e-learning tools in the context of Indonesian EAP classrooms. Forty-five Indonesian EAP teachers participated in the current study with different ages, academic backgrounds, and lengths of EAP teaching experiences. The instruments used to collect the research data were an online survey and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that video and VLEs were the two most commonly-used e-learning tools among the teachers with “self-taught” and “colleagues” being the two most favorite approaches the teachers have employed to learn such tools. Besides, promoting student engagement and developing learner autonomy were perceived as positive impacts of using e-learning tools by the teachers. Pedagogical implications of this study’s findings suggested that school authorities should organize more regular pre-service teacher training programs with the purpose to help novice teachers to improve their IT skills. Besides, e-learning tools should be more used in online teachings due to the benefits they have to offer for promoting student engagement and facilitating learner autonomy. A number of limitations in the current study are also presented along with some suggestions for future studies

General and special education teachers’ knowledge about reading comprehension processes and instructional practices

The study investigated teachers’ knowledge of reading comprehension processes and reading comprehension instruction. The study was carried out among teachers (N = 65) in Estonia. The content analysis classified qualitative data from semi-structured interviews as quantitative data. The results showed that teachers’ content knowledge about reading comprehension processes and pedagogical knowledge of reading comprehension instruction were considerably variable yet mostly limited. Special education teachers (n = 37) mentioned a wider range of reading strategies than classroom teachers (n = 28). When describing how to support struggling readers, significant differences emerged between the teacher groups: Special education teachers mentioned activities to support students’ reading comprehension more frequently than classroom teachers whereas classroom teachers mentioned activities for supporting reading motivation more often than special education teachers. Teachers’ lack of knowledge about reading comprehension processes and reading comprehension instruction indicate the need to improve these topics in preservice and in-service teacher training to enhance their teaching skills.