Using Videocases to Teach
Scaffolding to Preservice Teachers
Michael S. Meloth
melothm@ecu.edu
East Carolina University
This proposal describes a study designed to improve pre-service teachers'
ability to connect one particular theoretical construct, scaffolding, to
practice through the use of digital video cases of elementary
classrooms. Subjects were nine pre-service teachers enrolled in a
beginning (K-2) reading course. Results indicated that subjects'
understanding of scaffolding theory improved substantially through the
critical analysis of several video cases. Subjects also demonstrated
growth in their ability to articulate how scaffolding could be modified
for atypical instructional situations. Implications for future research
are included.
OVERVIEW
Researchers have noted that teacher education programs have a rather low
success rate in helping pre-service teachers appreciate the powerful ways
various theoretical constructs can be used to guide instructional
decisions and practice (Darling-Hammond, 2006). To address these
findings, several research programs using video cases of teachers and
classrooms have been pursued. The findings from this research are
generally positive (Brophy, 2004) but as Derry (2007)
notes, the
relative youth of this field makes it difficult to determine what kinds
of pre-service (and in-service) experiences with digital video cases seems
to have consistently positive benefits.
This study reports the results of a study intended to improve pre-service
teachers' ability to connect one particular theoretical construct,
scaffolding, to practice through the use of digital video cases of
elementary classrooms. Multimedia video cases of teaching and classroom
practice have been developed as a means for teachers to examine and
reflect upon descriptive scenarios of teaching and learning that were
grounded within a particular context. Borrowing from Merseth
(1994),
video case studies can be used in at least three different ways, (a)
cases as exemplars of practice; (b) cases as opportunities to observe,
analyze, and interpret from differing perspectives, and (c) cases as
stimulants for personal reflection.
Video case studies can provide rich opportunities to compare and
contrast how expert and novice teachers interact with students, how
learning and instructional theories are actualized in "on-line"
teaching, and how teachers incorporate "best practices" into their
courses
(Derry, 2007). Just as importantly,
these cases provide an opportunity
to review teaching-learning interactions repeatedly and from a variety
of perspectives, guided by a more knowledgeable "other" (the
course/workshop instructor). Doing so can enable teachers to closely
examine their own and their peers instructional ideas and behaviors, and
to discuss ideas for improvement (Goldman et al., 2007).
Recent findings suggest that using video cases can help improve
pre-service and in-service teachers' understanding of practice. The
extent to which observing, analyzing, and critiquing these cases add to
pre-service teachers understanding of instructional theory and whether
this understanding can be linked to their practice, however, is less
clear.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The questions guiding this research are the following:
1. What are pre-service teachers' initial
understanding of
scaffolding?
2. Do these understandings change following
observation and
analysis of video cases of scaffolding?
3. For any observed changes, are they sustained
over time?
4. What elements of video case analysis are
reported by pre-service
teachers as most beneficial?
METHODOLOGY
Nine subjects participated in this study. All were pre-service teachers
enrolled in a course on beginning reading instruction (K-2) at a small
liberal arts college. Prior to the beginning of the study (i.e., the
baseline session), subjects read a five-page description of scaffolding
developed by their instructor (who is also the researcher). The
description reviewed the theory and practice of scaffolding and provided
eight specific guidelines for using scaffolding. Followed this was by a
45-minute lecture and discussion on scaffolding. Both were intended to
ensure that all subjects began the study with relatively equal
scaffolding knowledge.
The videos used in this study were recorded in two local first grade
classrooms. Both teachers had worked with the researcher for
approximately six hours learning about, discussing, and reviewing videos
of scaffolding. Each teacher then selected six literacy lessons and
developed, in conjunction with the researcher, lesson plans that
included detailed scaffolding interactions. Each lesson was on a
different literacy topic (e.g., phonemic awareness). Each teacher then
taught the lessons to her students; three were taught to a small group
and three were taught one-on-one. The researcher videotaped and edited
each video down to approximately 7-10 minute cases. Eight cases (four
from each teacher) were selected for use in the study. One was used for
the baseline session, six for the treatment phase (3 focused on small
group scaffolding and 3 focused on one-on-one scaffolding). One case
was used for the maintenance session.
During the baseline session, one of the cases was shown twice in its
entirety, with time between showings and after the second showing for
subjects to record their observations and analyses. Subjects were not
permitted to refer to the five-page text description when writing their
observations/analyses.
Subjects then viewed and discussed one tape during each of six 90-minute
class sessions over a three-week period.
Three weeks following the last video case observation/analysis session,
subjects were asked to briefly refer to the five-page text description
of scaffolding (approximately 5 minutes was provided). They were then
shown one video case in its entirety and asked to write down their
observation and analysis of scaffolding. They were not allowed to refer
to the five-page description.
The videos taken as students observed and discussed the cases during the
six class sessions and the baseline and maintenance sessions, plus the
information they wrote down during each session, served as data for this
study. Data were analyzed using case study procedures recommended by
Yin (1994). Only the data for the written observations/analyses
collected during the session are reported here. Data from the videos of
the six treatment sessions and the baseline and maintenance sessions
will be included in the final conference presentation.
FINDINGS
With two exceptions, baseline observations and analyses were relatively
brief and overly general in detail, indicating that although subjects
received text, instruction, and an opportunity to view a video case,
these conditions were not sufficient to enhance the quality of their
observations. The two exceptions were considered moderate in detail and
quality. During the maintenance phase of the study, the quality and
richness of six of nine subjects' written information was rated as very
strong, indicating a rather sophisticated grasp of scaffolding theory
and an ability to notice in the video elements of scaffolding that were
relatively subtle. The remaining three were rated above mid-line in
their quality and detail. One of the three was one of the subjects'
rated low on the baseline.
Examination of changes in the written comments provided by subjects
during each of the six sessions suggest that the majority of them
improved in their observations/analyses between the first and second
case, demonstrated only modest change during the third through fifth
case, but substantial change between the fifth and sixth case. It is
not clear at this time whether these findings are due to (a) the kinds
of cognitive growth typical when preservice teachers
learn about complex
theoretical constructs such as scaffolding, (b) the particular
experiences offered when learning with video cases or (c) both. An
alternative explanation may be that these trends were a function of the
particular videos used in this study. Examination of the videos of six
classroom sessions should shed some light on this issue. Future
research that presents these videos in a different order is also
warranted.
IMPLICATIONS
The positive findings of this study coincide with other research using
video cases (e.g., Sherin & van Es, 2005)-pre-service
teachers can and do
learn from the opportunity to observe, analyze, and discuss with peers
and their instructor about how to use a complex theoretical construct
such as scaffolding.
This professional development approach was grounded in a situative
perspective on learning and focused on a theoretical construct that,
because of its complexity, is frequently misunderstood and misused by
pre-service (and in-service) teachers (Pea, 2004). The professional
development model used here took into account the complexity of
classroom teaching, the wide array of entering knowledge teachers
possess when learning to teach, and the importance of determining
whether any changes in knowledge could be maintained over time.
REFERENCES
Brophy, J. (2004). Advances in Research
on Teaching, Volume 10: Using
Video in Teacher Education. New York: Elsevier.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Powerful
Teacher Education. San Francisco,
CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Derry, S. (July, 2007). Guidelines for Video Research in Education:
Recommendations from an Expert Panel. Report submitted to the National
Science Foundation.
Goldman, R., Pea, R., Barron, B., & Derry, S. (2007). Video Research in
the Learning Sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Merseth, K. K. (1996). Cases
and case methods in teacher education. In
J. P. Sikula, T. J. Buttery, & E. Guyton (Eds.),
Handbook of Research in
Teacher Education. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Pea, R. (2004). The social and
technological dimensions of scaffolding
and related theoretical concepts for learning, education, and human
activity. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13, 423-451.
Sherin, M. and E. van Es (2005). "Using
Video to Support Teachers'
Ability to Notice Classroom Interactions." Journal of Technology
and
Teacher Education 13(3): 475-491.
Yin, K. (1994), Case Study Research: Design and Methods (Second
Edition). CA: Sage