Browsing by Subject "pre-service teachers"

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    Examining Pre-service Teachers’ Technology Integration Perceptions and Practices
    (2021-07) Chang, Yu-Hui
    In this digital age, teachers are novice learners themselves of educational technologies. Pre-service teachers, in particular, face multiple layers of demands and challenges. Not only do they frequently need to learn how to use digital educational tools, but they also may need to adjust their pedagogies, which are directly connected to their beliefs about teaching and learning (Ertmer & Newby, 2016; Tondeur et al., 2017) and their confidence in the practice of technology integration (Hur et al., 2016). Current research lacks insight into pre-service teachers’ learning progress during their teacher training and its connection to their ongoing development of contemporary teaching practices that support diverse learning experiences (Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al., 2015). The purpose of this dissertation was to gain further insights into the conceptual changes pre-service K-12 teachers’ experience related to technology integration during their teacher preparation that prepares them for future classrooms. The qualitative case study method (Merriam, 2001) was selected in this study to explore pre-service teachers’ perceptions and their influences on the “how” and “why” of technology integration practices. This retrospective study examined 69 pre-service teachers’ learning trajectories and their conceptual changes related to technology integration within an educational technology course. Guided by learning sciences approaches (Hoadley & Van Haneghan, 2012), a technology integration model (Roblyer & Hughes, 2018), and the ISTE standards (2016; 2018), a qualitative content analysis was conducted through three steps of analysis to triangulate how pre-service teachers construct their perceptions. First, three major themes, ranging from limited use, conservative use, to constructive use of technology, were identified in the pre-course questionnaire analysis, while two main aspects, separated or integrated use of technology, were uncovered in the post-course questionnaire analysis. Finally, three focal participants were purposefully chosen to illustrate their developmental growth and how they translated their beliefs into instructional design. The results of this study offer suggestions and applications for pre-service teacher educators and teacher preparation in designing new approaches to better address the ongoing challenge of technology integration in K-12 classrooms.
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    Multilingualism in Social Studies Classrooms: A Multiple Case Study Investigating Pre-service Teachers’ Ideology and Praxis
    (2022-05) Bach, Julia
    This study explored how pre-service social studies teachers describe their work with multilingual students in the process of developing students’ social studies conceptual understanding. Key components of the theoretical framework included language ideology (Ruiz, 1984), translanguaging (Kleyn & García, 2019), and concept-based learning (Erickson, 2002). Comprised of multiple case studies (Yin, 2009), this study consisted of a series of semi-structured interviews with three different participants as they planned, delivered, and reflected on lessons during their student teaching placements in public middle and high schools in a large urban center in the Midwest. Findings from the case studies illustrated the importance of pre-service teacher personal experience, pre-existing ideologies, and the role of mentor teachers in pre-service teachers’ instructional practice. Pre-service teachers’ praxis evolved and changed with respect to how they fostered multilingual learning in social studies classrooms. Implications of this research inquiry extend into teacher education for pre-service social studies teachers. This study demonstrated the importance of focusing on multilingual students in social studies classrooms and the ways pre-service teachers are being supported to focus on multilingual learners.