What makes observational learning in teacher education effective?

Chernikova, Olga (2018): What makes observational learning in teacher education effective?: evidence from a meta-analysis and an experimental study. Dissertation, LMU München: Fakultät für Psychologie und Pädagogik

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation is completed in the area of Teacher education and aims at researching how observational learning can be implemented to effectively foster teaching competence. The Chapter 2 introduces a meta-analysis on the effects of the observational learning on acquisition of teaching skills. In this meta-analysis, observational learning was defined as observing the target skill modelled by an expert and adopting this skill in one’s own practices. The main goal of the meta-analysis was to assess the effectiveness of observational learning in teacher education and the moderating role of the (1) presentation format used to present the target skill, (2) scaffolding and (3) outcome measures in fostering and assessing knowledge and skill acquisition. The meta-analysis summarised 19 independent empirical research findings between 1969 and 2014 based on the procedure suggested by Borenstein and colleagues (2009). Furthermore, the role of several methodological issues in relation to research in the domain of teacher education were addressed (i.e., using a quasi-experimental design, using relatively small samples, not having pure control conditions, etc.) and multiple statistical methods were combined to ensure the quality and validity of the results and to control for possible publication bias and questionable research practices. The findings went in line with the Bandura´s (1986) and Chi´s (2009) theoretical framework of observational learning and also supported the assumption that instructionally supported observational learning is beneficial for the acquisition of complex skills in the domain of teacher education. The meta-analysis came across several limitations and raised additional questions that were partially answered by the empirical study presented in Chapter 4. The Chapter 3 introduces the development of an instrument. More specifically, establishing and validating a scale to measure lesson planning competency of pre-service teachers (as a part of teaching competence in general). The target user group were pre-service elementary school teachers in the domain of physical education, but, with slight modifications, the procedure and conceptual considerations behind the scale can also be used for different domains of teaching, as well as for teachers with differing levels of expertise. The main goal of the scale development chapter was to close the gap between (1) assessing local effects on the acquisition of very specific teaching skills and (2) assessing a level of teaching competence as a more general construct, which combines different types of knowledge and skill. The created scale met the assumptions of the Item Response Theory, achieved accepted level of reliability (above .65) and was used in empirical study, presented in Chapter 4. The Chapter 4 describes an empirical study aimed at assessing the effect of observational learning and scaffolding on fostering the lesson planning competency in elementary school pre-service physical education teachers. The main assumption was that observational learning would be beneficial, to foster lesson planning competency and thereby contribute to the development of teaching competence. Although no significant differences were identified between treatment and control condition during the post-test, the study supported the hypothesis, that following the scaffolding procedure suggested to experimental condition had a positive effect on the lesson planning competency level, and in general supported the assumption that observational learning can be used for fostering this competency.

• Dokumententyp: Dissertationen (Dissertation, LMU München)
• Keywords: teacher education, observational learning, competency measurement
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften ; 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 370 Erziehung, Schul- und Bildungswesen
• Fakultäten: Fakultät für Psychologie und Pädagogik
• Sprache der Hochschulschrift: Englisch
• Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 16. Juli 2018
• 1. Bericht­erstatter:in: Stegmann, Karsten