International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education

A Teaching Practicum Model for Constructing Cogenerative Dialogue Amongst Preservice Teachers to Improve Science Teaching

Steven Newman — 2024-07-22

The specific focus of this study is how a team of four preservice teachers experienced a collaborative practicum model to support the development of cogenerative dialogue and foster professional growth. Data sources included individual video club annotations and the associated group discussions facilitated by comparison of group members' selected annotations. The analysis found that participation in peer collaboration provided multiple viewpoints of shared teaching experiences that enabled preservice teachers' different ways to notice student thinking. Providing a structured framework for reflection, namely the individual video club annotations, served as the genesis for cogenerative dialogues centered on instructional change for the preservice teachers. This work's implications showcase the importance of allowing for the iterative enactment and reflection on pedagogical choices by preservice teachers early in their professional development.

The Effect of K-12 Engineering Education Focused Professional Development Program on Science Teachers' Teaching Engineering Self-Efficacy*

Filiz Demirci — 2024-07-22

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a K-12 engineering education-focused professional development program on teachers' engineering self-efficacy. In the study, which was conducted in a nested mixed research design, the main qualitative design was embedded in a weak experimental design and the data obtained were related to each other. In the qualitative dimension of the study, teachers' reflection papers were used as data collection tools; in the quantitative dimension, engineering teaching self-efficacy scale was used as data collection tool. The study group of the research consisted of fourteen science teachers working in a province of the Black Sea region and selected using random sampling method. As a result of the study, it was found that the professional development program focused on engineering teaching significantly increased science teachers' engineering teaching self-efficacy and the qualitative results were consistent with this result. As a result of the results obtained from this study, recommendations are presented to practitioners and researchers for future teacher education or professional development program research in this field.

Enhancing the Digital Competence of Prospective Primary School Teachers through Utilizing Kahoot!

Inna Stakhova — 2024-07-22

Given the rapid advancement of modern information and communication technologies, as well as the increasing demand for distance and hybrid learning models, it is imperative that prospective teachers attain a high level of digital competence. This study aimed to determine how effective the technique of using Kahoot! to develop the digital competence of prospective primary school teachers. To diagnose the effectiveness of the developed methodology, testing was used which included various types of tasks and questionnaires in order to assess prospective primary school teachers’ readiness to use digital tools in their professional activities. The results obtained (t_crit = 1.982) made it possible to conclude that utilizing Kahoot! interactive platform in prospective primary school teachers’ professional training contributes to enhancing their digital competence. According to the findings, the gamified application Kahoot! contributes to students’ study motivation, creates a favorable psychological atmosphere. A promising area for further research is to explore the prospective teachers’ readiness to create multimedia products using state-of-the-art software iClone Pro, Toon Boom Harmony, Anime Studio Pro , etc.

A Randomized Control Trial Study: Evaluating Pedagogical Practices in Science Classrooms

Rafael Lara-Alecio — 2024-07-22

In this randomized control study, we evaluated science teachers’ pedagogical practices via classroom observations following ongoing, intensive, and structured instructional support sessions. These sessions included virtual professional development (VPD) and virtual mentoring and coaching (VMC) that accompanied a literacy-infused science curriculum. Using a low-inference observational instrument, we explored the direct impact of VPD and VMC on fifth-grade science teachers’ observed time allocation in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) validation study. The observations were collected three times during science instruction from 121 teachers in 68 schools from 35 public school districts in the U.S. state of Texas, during the 2017-2018 school year. Preliminary findings revealed pedagogical differences in time allocation among teachers between treatment and control classrooms. We identified improved instructional practices within treatment classrooms, which suggests the intervention had a positive effect by enhancing the quality of pedagogy as well as the content-area instruction in science.

Teachers’ Management of Everyday-Living Skills of Intellectually Challenged Learners

Adesegun Olayide Odutayo — 2024-07-22

Teachers’ Management of Everyday-Living Skills of Intellectually Challenged Learners

Unlocking Social Growth: The Impact of Applied Behavior Analysis on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Nisar Abid — 2024-07-22

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is significantly known as social interaction impairment that can be reduced through early school-age intervention. The quasi-experimental research design was used to examine the effect of applied behavior analysis treatment on ASD children's interpersonal skills. The researchers used a purposive sampling technique to select 30 participants who have symptoms of ASD, which were divided into two groups (control and experimental) without gender discrimination. The assessment of basic language and learning skills (ABLLS-R) protocol and portage guide of early education was used to develop a questionnaire comprising four factors. The results indicate a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group of students' interpersonal skills and the pretest and post-test scores of the experimental group. It is suggested that parents and therapists should develop a sharing ability among children with autism symptoms so they can understand social reinforcement.

Sustainable Action and Transformation of Change in Teachers’ Learning Leadership Model: Promoting Students’ Independent Learning

Ratnawati Susanto — 2024-07-22

Teachers’ learning leadership is one of important facets to students’ quality of independent learning. This should be well constructed by sustainable action and transformational of change. The aims of this research are: 1) to measure how valid and reliable both sustainable action and transformation of change are in the construction of learning leadership model and 2) how learning leadership correlates to independent learning. This is a case study which applies quantitative descriptive method. The data were collected by using a 5--Likert scale questionnaire comprises the indicators of sustainable action, transformation of change and independent learning. This questionnaire was distributed to 59 Elementary teachers of three areas in West Jakarta, Indonesia. The data were analyzed by using SEM PLS and statistical analysis of regression. The findings revealed that both sustainable action and transformational of change were valid and reliable in the construction of learning leadership model. Besides, the analysis of regression showed that learning leadership was significantly correlated to independent learning.