Hosun Kang

Gender differences in student performance in large lecture classrooms using personal response systems (‘clickers’) with narrative case studies

This study investigated gender differences in science learning between two pedagogical approaches: traditional lecture and narrative case studies using personal response systems (‘clickers’). Thirteen instructors of introductory biology classes at 12 different institutions across the USA and Canada used two types of pedagogy (Clicker Cases and traditional lecture) to teach eight topic areas. Three different sets of multiple regression analysis were conducted for three separate dependent variables: posttest score, change in score from posttest to final, and transfer score. Interactions between gender and pedagogical approach were found across the three analyses. Women either performed better with Clicker Cases, or about the same with either instructional method, but men performed markedly better with lectures in most topic areas. Our results suggest that men and women experience two pedagogical approaches—Clicker Cases and lectures—differently, and that Clicker Cases are more favorable for women than for men.

Preservice Teachers' Learning to Plan Intellectually Challenging Tasks

This study explores how and under which conditions preservice secondary science teachers (PSTs) engage in effective planning practices that incorporate intellectually challenging tasks into lessons. Drawing upon a situative perspective on learning, eight PSTs’ trajectories of participation in communities of practice are examined with a focus on planning throughout student teaching. Data include 32 sets of teaching artifacts, interviews with PSTs, interviews with methods course instructors, and interviews with mentor teachers. The analyses show that instructional tasks observed at the beginning of lessons link to the ways in which PSTs engage in the three interrelated processes of (a) framing instructional goals, (b) constructing a lesson scenario, and (c) addressing problems of practice. The consistencies and changes observed in the PSTs’ trajectories of planning reveal the dynamic, responsive, and contentious nature of planning situated in local contexts. Three implications for designing productive learning opportunities for PSTs are discussed.

Articulating Design Principles for Productive Use of Video in Preservice Education

Despite the potential of video for professional learning, the field lacks an integrated framework to inform teacher educators’ pedagogical decision making, particularly in the context of preservice teacher education. This article aims to make a conceptual argument about productive ways of using video in preservice education contexts. Drawing on situative and sociocultural perspectives, we theorize how and under what conditions video can be used productively. We discuss existing frameworks and tools that guide the design of video-embedded learning environments. We then present an integrated framework, the principled use of video (PUV) to specify principles, processes, and key considerations for creating a system of video-embedded activities. The merits and potential pitfalls of the PUV framework are discussed using an illustrative case. We argue that productive use of video that facilitates the desired learning of preservice teachers involves attention to both the learning ecology and underlying theories of preservice teacher learning.

What Beginning Teachers’ Narratives about Video-Based Instruction Tell Us about Learning to Teach Science and Literacy

Abstract Purpose To demonstrate how teacher candidate narratives in response to videos depicting science and literacy instruction can be used to both teach and evaluate beginning teachers’ emerging conceptions of disciplinary literacy. Methodology/approach Teacher candidates viewed and responded to videos depicting exemplary practice in science education and then videos of their own practice. Qualitative discourse analysis was used to investigate the science teacher candidates’ interpretations of problems of practice, their views of scientific literacy and understandings of their students. Findings The teacher candidates displayed distaste for textbooks, reinforced by negative experiences with textbooks in school settings, and yet they viewed textbooks as essential for effectively teaching knowledge about science. At the same time, each viewed the natural world as the ideal “text” for teaching knowledge about science, at times compensating for the weaknesses of textbooks and at other times entirely replacing textbooks as the source of knowledge about science. We consider what this means for preparing teachers for effective subject matter and literacy practice. Practical implications Video reflections like these demonstrate that what teacher candidates understand about video representations of others’ and their own teaching are far from literal and are interpreted through the educational and background lenses of the teacher candidates’ themselves. We suggest that a great deal more work needs to be done to better understand how to use video reflection to best develop teacher candidates’ conceptions of subject matter and literacy practice.