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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 16, Issue 2, Article 3 (Dec., 2015) |
We will present the findings from the data analysis according to the two research questions: 1) What do pre-service science teachers perceive about professional development for SSI-based teaching and using social media as a tool for promoting their SSI-based teaching? And 2) What are the effective strategies for mentors using social media to enhance advisees’ implementation of SSI-based teaching?
Phase I: Pre-service science teachers’ perceptions about professional development for SSI-based teaching and using social media as tool for promoting their SSI-based teaching
1. The need for professional development about SSI-based teaching
We found that most pre-service science teachers (35 PSTs) needed professional development about SSI-based teaching. Some of them (18 PSTs) believed that SSI-based teaching benefitted their students. One sample of their replies: “SSIs-based teaching is good to promote students’ application of their knowledge to daily life such as solving problem, critical thinking” (Questionnaire, PST29). A few of them (9 PSTs) thought they did not have enough knowledge about SSI-based teaching so they needed professional development about it. An example of their answers stated that “I need to know how to teach according to SSI-based teaching” (Questionnaire, PST03). In addition, a few respondents (6 PSTs) said that they were aware of SSI-based teaching and wanted to observe good examples of SSI-based teaching for application in their future practice. An example of their answers stated that “The main reason that I need PD is because I want to see a good practice of SSI-based teaching” (Questionnaire, PST11). However, one candidate did not want professional development about the using of SSI-based teaching because he thought that SSI-based teaching is difficult in a real classroom situation. He stated: “I think that teachers cannot use SSI-based teaching more often. It depends on time and chance” (Questionnaire, PST01).2. The strategies for professional development about SSI-based teaching
A few pre-service science teachers (5 PSTs) stated that social media could be used for professional development because they could set up groups to exchange their ideas about SSI-based teaching and provide learning resources for lesson design. One respondent said “Create group in social media to discuss about SSI-based teaching can be the learning resource for us to develop SSIs-based teaching skills (Questionnaire, PST33)”. The same number of pre-service science teachers (5 PSTs) suggested using a workshop as the main strategy for professional development. “Providing a workshop about SSI-based teaching is the good way for development of this teaching approach (Questionnaire, PST01)”. Also, the same number of pre-service science teachers (5 PSTs) identified that the best way to develop their SSI-based teaching is through direct experience. One respondent said, “The best way for me to develop SSI-based teaching is havingreal experience from teaching practice such as seeing an example of the good SSI-based teaching or practice teaching of SSI-based teaching by myself” (Questionnaire, PST06). However, one pre-service science teacher wanted to attend some courses concerning SSI-based teaching as example of her answers stated that “I think that I can develop myself about SSI-based teaching from attending an SSI-based teaching course (Questionnaire, PST34)”.3. Using mentoring as a professional development strategy for SSI-based teaching
Most of the respondents (27 PSTs) thought that mentoring is a good professional development strategy for SSI-based teaching. One example of their replies was, “If a mentor has knowledge about SSIs-based teaching, they can give good suggestions such as developing lesson plans, teaching, do learning assessments (Questionnaire, PST36)”. In addition, a few pre-service science teachers (2 PSTs) who thought that mentors could be good SSI-based teaching models for them. An example of their answers stated that “I think that a mentor will be a good model for the teaching of this approach (Questionnaire, PST11)”. A few pre-service science teachers (2 PSTs) thought that mentoring was a good strategy for providing them with an opportunity to ask questions. Their answers stated that “I can ask questions about SSI-based teaching and we can exchange our ideas” (Questionnaire, PST19), and “It is the way for pre-service teachers to communicate with a mentor” (Questionnaire, PST23). However, a few pre-service science teachers (3 PSTs) thought that mentoring is not the best strategy for them to develop SSI-based teaching. An example of their answers stated that “I think that development of SSI-based teaching depended on me not only depending on a mentor (Questionnaire, PST15)”.4. Using social media as a professional development strategy for SSI-based teaching
Most of them (25 PSTs) considered social media a learning resource for the development of SSI-based teaching. An example of their answers stated that “It will be a resource for information about SSI-based teaching. I will apply this to my practice (Questionnaire, PST17)”. Moreover, some pre-service science teachers (19 PSTs) mentioned that social media is a good way to communicate because it is fast and more convenient. An example of their answers stated that “It is a site for sharing experience about SSI-based teaching and get a good place to get advice” (Questionnaire, PST18).There was only one pre-service science teacher who thought that social media could promote her collaboration with others. She said, “It can promote collaborative working but we have to be aware of our word choices that we use to communicate because we don’t know each other’s emotions by reading the text” (Questionnaire, PST38). However, one pre-service science teacher did not agree that social media should be used as a professional development strategy for SSI-based teaching. She said, “I think that discussion with experts about SSI-based teaching in social media should be face to face interaction. Face to face discussion is better” (Questionnaire, PST21).Phase II: The effective strategies of a mentor using social media to enhance pre-service science teachers’ implementation of SSI-based teaching
Based on my experience advising pre-service science teachers, I would like to suggest some effective strategies for advising them how to use SSI-based teaching in their classrooms.
1. Use various social media as the channel for giving pre-service science teachers feedback.
This strategy came from their needs to get some feedback whenever they encounter problems during teaching practice. At the beginning of my research advising processes, two pre-service science teachers and I made common goals about classroom action research and SSI-based teaching. We also made appointments to meet each other almost every week. During the group meetings, I let them present their own progress in classroom action research and discuss their difficulties. They could also get some ideas from their friend’s discussions and feedback. Nancy mentioned that:I learned what my friends think and can apply their ideas to my teaching and classroom action research. For example, I have never used role playing in my lesson because I think that it takes time. During discussion, I found that students of my friends were more active for argumentation when they learn with role playing so I try to design my lesson with role playing to promote my students’ argumentation (Facebook Message, September 2, 2014).
So, this meeting seemed to be a good way for me to give feedback on how to do classroom action research and SSI-based teaching. However, they spent most of their time practicing teaching at school, and when they encountered problems in their SSI-based teaching, they did not feel confident enough to continue their work. When they needed immediate advice, they could not wait for our weekly meeting for mentoring. They needed more channels for sharing their problems and receiving feedback.
Based on my literature review, I found that teachers could use social networking to promote students’ learning. There is benefit in using social media to communicate with students or for out-of-classroom discussions. By making connections with other people, students learn and exchange knowledge with others who they may not have had the opportunity to interact with. In addition, Social media allows for a quick response from the mentor which may ‘save the day’ for the teacher. Thus, I used many kinds of social networking as part of my advising processes. I observed that all of them had a Facebook account, and they communicated with their friends via Facebook for many hours each day. Therefore, I created Groups on Facebook named “ศิษย์รักสควค”. (My lovely PSMT students), which was a private group and able to build stronger professional communities. They could post their ideas or upload words and PDF files, video, or photos on a timeline of the Facebook group. All of them could give each other advice. If they wanted private advice from me, they could send me a Facebook message. They were happy that I created a new connection channel for research advising because, as Nancy mentioned, “It is very convenient to directly contact my adviser for discussing issues that I found in my teaching and doing classroom action research” (Facebook Message: September 11, 2014).It seems that the implementation of social media as a mentoring tool resulted in the creation of a community of learners. This community engaged in posing questions and proposing solutions for the implementation of SSI into the classroom. Unfortunately, I found that messages we post on Facebook sometimes created confusion, and sometimes, it also took time to receive responses. Consequently, I was continually searching for the most effective way for the community of pre-service teachers to share their experiences and collaborate on possible solutions to issues or problems posed.
Besides Facebook, they also frequently used Line, which is an application on smart phones and personal computers. They could send free text messages, graphics, and video and audio, and they could conduct voice calls and hold audio or video conferences. I created a group chat to discuss some urgent problems they found during their teaching practice. I also used voice calling to give them some direct advice. They could understand what we discussed better than just reading the message. As William said, “I think that these social networks make communication better. I prefer the channel that we can see the face of other people, listen when they talk, and respond to them directly” (Line Message, September 25, 2014)”.Unfortunately, this application at that time did not provide a method for sending word or PDF files via cell phones, so I still uploaded Word or PDF files to the Facebook group. However, I have to be careful about posting their works back on the Facebook group because some of them might imitate each other. Therefore, I agree with them about how to use Facebook posts and Line Messages as the connecting channel for research advising. Normally, I sent work directly to each person’s Facebook message inbox. As the result of using social network, both of them felt more confident in both their classroom action research and their SSI-based teaching. As Nancy stated, “I have more confidence about my practice than before because I always get immediately [sic] feedback not only from advisor and my friends” (Facebook Message, February 20, 2015).Therefore, one of the benefits of using social media as a means of communication between mentor and mentee is that the pre-service teachers commonly use social media as a means of communication, and this means that receiving feedback from a mentor via social media is the norm.
2. Providing an empirical example for the holistic view of SSI-based teaching
In the beginning, my two pre-service science teachers and I jointly set common goals for our working and planning about classroom action research and SSI-based teaching. They seemed to know what they would do in the future to accomplish their goals. However, they had not experienced classroom action research and SSI-based teaching before, so they did not feel confident to move their work forward. For classroom action research, they were not sure how to write research proposals and link those proposals with SSI-based teaching. They had difficulty with the statement of problems, what exactly their research questions were, how to develop research instruments, how to collect data, and how to analyze data. Their work progress was slow, and they were not confident enough to move forwards with their work because they were unclear about classroom action research and SSI-based teaching. As William stated, “In the beginning, I did not have a clear view on what I was doing because I did not have much experience. I got confused so I could not make my work progress quickly” (Line Message: July 20, 2014).Therefore, I tried to share my experiences with them about how to do classroom action research and SSI-based teaching in the classroom in order to make them have a more holistic view. They seemed to understand, and as Nancy pointed out, “You sharing your experience benefits me because I did not have experience in SSI-based teaching and doing classroom action research so I was hesitant and I could not see the overview and detail of my works” (Line Message, August 18, 2014).However, while they were developing lesson plans as a research instrument, neither of them felt confident and they got stuck in the process again. I learned that just telling of my experience doing classroom action research and teaching based SSIs to them was too abstract. William stated, “I think that what you share with me are the ideals of SSI-based teaching. When I practiced teaching and did classroom action research in a real situation, they are different from the ideal” (Facebook Message, September 19, 2014). To cope with this problem, I provided them with research articles of classroom action research related to SSI-based teaching. I also gave them examples of lesson plans concerning SSIs. I did not give these examples at first because I wanted them to work independently. I was afraid that they would directly copy ideas from these articles, so I coached them in ethics in doing research. As a result, the progress of their work was faster. They understood the holistic views of their work more easily and they knew what they would do for the next steps. Nancy indicated, “I now have an overview of SSI-based teaching and doing my research more clearly. Some points that I did not understand were eliminated after reading the articles” (Facebook Message, September 14, 2014).
3. Providing a friendly atmosphere for increasing their reflection in order to reduce the problems with SSI-based teachingAt the beginning of their teaching practice, I found that my two pre-service science teachers did not want to share their ideas about classroom action research and SSIs-based teaching when I met with them. They did not feel confident and were afraid that I would blame them for their mistakes in their classroom action research and SSI-based teaching. Therefore, they preferred to ask me for advice whenever they encountered a problem. As Nancy stated, “I am afraid to make an appointment with you or ask you questions because I do not have experience and I worry about making mistake during my teaching practice. As result of this mistake, my students will not learn effectively” (Line Message, September 22, 2014). In addition, they thought that I was a strict person and wanted them to be perfect because I sometimes gave them emotional advice and got angry when they did not follow my suggestions. I always listened to their comments but hardly gave them compliments about their work. I learned that they needed encouragement as William pointed out, “Sometimes, I feel tired from teaching. I encounter various problems in school. I need someone with whom I can share my experiences and clearly explain what I am thinking about” (Facebook Message, October 6, 2014).
Therefore, I tried to speak about the good things they did before commenting about their works. In addition, I also gave them some reasonable compliments. As a result, they seemed to be more comfortable with my personality and could reflect on their own work more than before. “I am able to talk and discuss with you more than before because I understand your style of working. I do not have to worry about you blaming me for mistakes. (Nancy, Facebook Message, October 15, 2014)” However, I also observed that they informally spoke about their work with their friends more than with me. To increase their candidness with me, I changed from individual meetings to group meetings, and I spoke softly about the good things they did before providing them with any negative comments. Then I found that they felt more confident sharing their ideas about classroom action research and SSI-based teaching. They also learned from their friends and helped me to advise their friends. William pointed out, “I liked to discuss my work with my friends who understand my work. I also learned from them and they also learned from me” (Line massage: October, 24 2014). Eventually, the number of problems that they asked me to advise about in the area of classroom action research and SSIs-based teaching decreased.4. Motivating pre-service science teachers to share ideas with cooperative teachers or experienced teachers about SSI-based teaching
At the beginning of their teaching experience, my two pre-service science teachers found it difficult to design their lessons according to SSI-based teaching. They also found problems during the implementation of their developed lessons in the real classroom context. They revealed that this problem came from their lack of appropriate facilities in the classroom, and interruptions in their teaching schedule. William said, “My school sometimes has extra-activities [sic] so I have to reduce my teaching periods. Moreover, some of my developed lessons did not come along with media, tools, or equipment provided in the classroom because I designed lessons for students’ learning in the laboratory room but it was not available at the time of the lesson” (Line message, September 8, 2014)”. Therefore, I needed to advise my pre-service science teachers to design their lessons appropriately. They needed someone who was familiar with the real classroom context to provide them with suggestions.
To deal with this problem, I asked them to have more discussion the development of SSI-based lessons with their cooperative teacher or with an experienced teacher who used this teaching approach in their schools. Based on my review of the literature, I found that the cooperative teacher is also an important person who assists the student teacher in lesson and unit design and in creating appropriate learning activities, and he or she assists them in understanding how to organize physical space. As a result, they got more ideas from their cooperative teacher that they could effectively apply to their classroom. Nancy stated, “My cooperative teacher helped me to design SSI lesson plans. She made suggestions about the suitable classroom setting and the length of time for teaching in each concept” (Facebook Message, October 10, 2014). They also reflected that they felt more comfortable in teaching, and the relationship between their cooperative teacher and themselves was better. “My cooperative teacher and I had a good relationship. We always shared ideas about teaching. Sometimes, she learned how to use new teaching techniques from me” (William, Facebook Message, November 18, 2014).
However, some cooperative teachers were not familiar with SSI-based teaching so they were not sure about their suggestions to these pre-service science teachers. As Nancy mentioned, “My cooperative teachers was not keen in SSI-based teaching. She was not quite sure how to give me suggestions about it so she has to help me to search for information about it for designing lessons” (Line Message, December 2, 2014). Therefore, as a science educator, I think it is important to increase cooperative teachers’ understandings about SSI-based teaching. This would be a benefit for my students. I provided the opportunity for my pre-service science teachers and cooperative teachers, and we exchanged ideas about SSI based lesson together. In addition, I also encouraged my students to discuss issues with both their cooperative teacher and with an experienced SSI-based teacher in their school. Eventually, they could develop and implement SSI–based lessons that would include the important characteristics of this approach. As Nancy said, “I have more understanding about SSI-based teaching not only from you and my cooperative teacher, but I have also been able to learn from other experts in school. I am quite sure that my developed lessons come along with this teaching approach” (Facebook Message, December 12, 2014).
5. Continually following pre-service science teachers’ progress in SSI-based teaching
Previously, I always had group meetings with two pre-service science teachers to understand their works and problems related to SSI-based teaching. Both of them tried to bring their understanding from these meetings to their teaching practice. Normally, if they did not have any problems or questions about SSI-based teaching, I would not have a meeting so that they could have more time to do their work. I would wait for them to schedule an appointment with me. Nancy seldom asked me for an appointment to get my suggestions but William always did. As a result, William made more progress in his teaching because I could provide beneficial comments that directly concerned his struggles. “I think that I got many essential comments for improving my work which is why I always made an appointment with you in order to receive your advice” (William, Facebook message, February 5, 2015).When compared with Nancy, who rarely met with me, his teaching always had fewer mistakes and it was easier to solve some problems. The progress of Nancy's work was slower than Williams, and as she indicated, “I am not sure if what I did was correct or not. I am so ashamed that you always helped me to solve problems that occurred in my classroom. I should meet you before the problem occurred” (Facebook Message, February 13, 2015). Therefore, I believed that the more they met me and reported what they did, the more their work progressed. I started changing my practice from providing them freedom to manage their own work to continually following their progress in SSI-based teaching. Every week, I asked them to report to me what their progress was via various methods such as a one-page written report, an oral report, or a message post in our groups on Facebook or Line. I also provided quick essential feedback to them. They seemed to be energized by this process. As a result, they produced progress faster than before. “Your following techniques made my work progress faster. I got direct feedback that increased my confidence in SSI-based teaching” (Nancy, Line Message, February 20, 2015). As result of continually following their progress in SSI-based teaching, William got a reward from The National Graduate Conference in Thailand, and he wrote, “Thanks so much for your suggestions, I finally got the good reward from the conference” (Facebook message, March 30, 2015).
Copyright (C) 2015 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 16, Issue 2, Article 3 (Dec., 2015). All Rights Reserved.