The Effect Of Social Context On The Reflective Practice Of Preservice Science Teachers: Leveraging A Web-Supported Community Of Teachers Jim MaKinster Hobart & William Smith Colleges William Harwood Indiana University Bloomington

Overview of Study Secondary Science Methods Course Student Teaching Experience Reflection Assignment Goals: To provide students with meaningful opportunities to reflect on their teaching To integrate the Inquiry Learning Forum into this course To systematically examine how different online contexts effect student experiences

Overview of Study Three different online contexts Private Journal Private Discussion Forum “Public” Discussion Forum within a “Web-supported Learning Community” Three different levels of authenticity Two questions: To what extent do these different contexts affect the nature of the student reflections? How do the different experiences affect the students’ perceptions of this assignment?

Theoretical Frameworks Reflective Practice (e.g. Dewey, 1933; Schon, 1987; Zeichner & Liston, 1996) Empowers current and future teachers Views teaching as a life-long learning opportunity Electronic Networking Technologies Real-time Chat Email Discussion Lists Bulletin Board Discussions Can provide effective support for beginning teachers (reviewed by Barnett, in press)

Theoretical Frameworks Situated Cognition The importance of context Learning and knowing are viewed as active interactions (Young, 1993) Knowledge Individual vs. Knowledge Context Content Example: Pianist

Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF) A web-supported “community” of inservice and preservice science and mathematics teachers sharing and improving inquiry-based classroom practices Focus: Inquiry (dual notion) National and state standards “Visit” classrooms online Coordinate teacher collaborations

Reflection Assignment Methods course – Weeks 1-6 Student teaching – Weeks 7-16 KWL Structure What happened or what decisions were made? (what you know) What questions and thoughts you have about the situation? (what you want to know) a. Make connections to concepts, ideas, and experiences that you already understand or have experienced What you might do differently next time? (what you learned)

Online Contexts Private Journal Group Private Discussion Forum “Public” Discussion Forum

Private Journal Group ILF Workroom – private area in ILF Each of four students had own private discussion board – “journal” Individualistic Cognitive Perspective One-on-one basis with the professor

The Private Journal

Private Discussion Forum ILF Workroom – private area in ILF Four students in a single private threaded discussion Social Constructivist Perspective Collaborative reflection and discussion about their conceptions of teaching

Private Discussion Forum

“Public” Discussion Forum ILF Lounge – public area - four students shared discussion forum Situated Cognition Perspective It is essential to consider the context in which this activity occurs ILF as a potentially more authentic context for reflection Other ILF members were able to read and respond

ILF Lounge Discussion Forum

Research Methodology Electronic Copies of Reflections Post Interviews Reflections and Online Discussions Predetermined coding scheme (Bonk, et al., 1998) # of Posts # of sentences Constant Comparison Method (Glasser & Strauss, 1967)

Referring to Posts Reflection Response Reply Only reflections and responses were analyzed for this study

Overall Online Activity

Characterizing Reflections

Characterizing Responses

Development of Cases Constant Comparison Method (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) Cases Private Journal Private Discussion Forum ILF Lounge Discussion Forum Foci within each case: Nature of Student Reflections Student Perceptions of Assignment

The Private Journal Personal Reflections Student Perceptions Were usually quite good Contained detailed descriptions Entailed all three parts of KWL Description  Questions  Analysis Student Perceptions Negative attitude about the assignment Thought it was of little personal value Wrote superficial reflections

Private Discussion Forum Personal Reflections Did a good job describing situation or problem and reflecting on the experience Seldom talked about what they would do in the future Often ended with open-ended questions Responses to Others Typically very good Provided praise or positive affirmation Described personal experiences Suggested potential solutions

Private Discussion Forum Student Perceptions Overall, “it was a valuable experience” Perceptions varied from student to student Ron – little value, especially the responses Sean – very enthusiastic Kristen – reflection was valuable, but responses she received were of little value Amanda – grew into liking it Forced them to reflect on their teaching

ILF Lounge Discussion Forum Personal Reflections Good to fair descriptions of situations Seldom discussed future strategies Responses to Others Were similar to those in the Private Discussion Forum Provided praise, positive affirmation, suggestions, solutions, and described personal experiences Very good about providing encouragement and expressing empathy

ILF Lounge Discussion Forum ILF members from outside this course Ben – clearly comfortable in challenging their ideas Terry – most active, supportive, often included personal examples and experiences Clarissa – responded to a single student and asked for more information

ILF Lounge Discussion Forum Student Perceptions Definitely of value to all students Value of reflection in and of itself Liked getting feedback From peers – shared experiences From inservice teachers – valuable ideas 3 out of 4 students - nothing negative to say Seth – “a lot of additional work during student teaching”

Conclusions - Reflections Students in Private Journal were better at writing initial reflections Nature of assignment Private nature of journal setting Reflection occurred within discussions Students reflected by writing responses Discussed personal experiences Gave opinions, suggestions, ideas Articulated identities and perspectives

Conclusions – Perceptions Students in ILF Lounge Discussion Forum valued both the assignment and reflection in and of itself Feedback from peers Emotional support Curricular support Multiple perspectives Feedback from inservice teachers Provided more of an authentic setting Context was motivating and engaging

Implications Web-based collaborative discussion forums can foster meaningful and engaged reflection Reflecting in online discussions can be ideal for student teaching experiences Learning communities can serve as meaningful contexts Informs how to structure a similar experience in the future