Improving Student Classroom Teachers’ Content Organization Skills Through Practicum

Abstract

The process of learning and teaching involves the organization of the interaction among teachers, students, and content. The focus of this study was to enable the student teachers’ experience of deliberate practice to improve their organization of specific content and develop practice skills in classroom environments. This study, which adopted a holistic single-case method, examined fourth-year student classroom teachers’ content organization skills in a teaching practicum course. The study was conducted with 11 fourth-year student teachers, who were attending a teaching practicum course, and data were collected through an open-ended test, a semi-structured interview form, and lesson plans. The student teachers were provided with four weeks of training on the components of concepts and generalizations, and with information selecting-organizing-integrating (SOI) techniques. The participants were asked to prepare lesson plans and implement them in the classroom environment. Over six weeks, the researchers provided the participants with feedback and corrections for the lesson plans they prepared. The findings showed that the participants could not reflect the SOI techniques and the components of the concept and generalization in the lesson plans they prepared at the desired level. When the findings from this study were evaluated, we can state that organizing the content in lesson plans and the application of it is indeed a challenging process for student teachers. To efficiently carry out the said task, they need effective and well-structured support from teacher educators.