Richard C. Pugh

Variables Influencing the Acquisition of a Generic Teaching Skill

In an initial attempt to identify the variables influencing the acquisition of teaching skills, the results of 26 studies addressing acquisition of the generic skill of questioning were synthesized through meta-analysis. The variables considered were general effect of training, training method, length of training period, specific training time, number of practice sessions, teaching experience of trainees, academic and certification levels of trainees, practice setting, and students used as pupils in practice. Interactions among selected variables were also assessed. Of the preceding variables, general effect of training, academic level of trainees within training method, consistency of trainee certification level and pupils taught in practice, and consistency across practice and criterion teaching settings were found to have significant effects. The findings are discussed with reference to research-based views as well as traditional views about the variables influencing the acquisition of teaching skills. Implications of the limitations of the studies reviewed for future research are discussed.

Acquiring Teaching Skills through Concept-Based Training.

To assess the effect of concept-based training on the acquisition of teaching skills, twenty practicing teachers were assigned to either a training group or a non training group using an assignment strategy that controlled for relevant trainee variables. Posttraining evidence was collected on concept acquisition scores, incidence of use of the skills taught, and the relationship between concept acquisition scores and skill scores. Concept-based training resulted in significantly higher mean concept acquisition scores and a significantly higher mean incidence of use of the teaching skills. A positive and significant correlation was found between concept acquisition scores and skill scores in the trained group.

Conceptual instruction and intervention as methods of acquiring teaching skills

Abstract The premise of conceptually based training is that teaching skills can be acquired through instruction or intervention directed at the acquisition or formation of concepts defining and delineating those skills. Past research shows that training based upon concepts results in gains in teaching skills. The evidence presented in the present paper shows that either instruction or intervention methods directed at conceptual change result in gains in complex teaching skills. Further evidence that level of concept acquisition and skill use are positively related is consistent with the hypothesis that concepts mediate skills. Direct and indirect implications for teacher education are drawn.

The Development and Evaluation of Protocol Films of Teacher Behavior.

RATIONALE The belief that teachers ought to be competent interpreters of behavior is fundamental in teacher education. Psychological concepts are taught, for example, with the clear expectation that teachers will use them to describe and interpret pupil behavior. Whether or not that expectation is generally realized, of course, is open to question. It is probably safe to say that much of the conceptual content of teacher education never does become functional (in the sense of being used to describe and interpret classroom events). One way to increase the probability that concepts will become functional is to teach them with greater clarity in defini-