Student-teacher conferences and video-recorded microteaching sessions in developing pre-service teachers' teaching competences

Abstract

The present study highlighted the importance of pre-service teachers’ teaching competences in English Language Teaching (ELT). Facts show that empowering pre-service teachers is very important, but inspiring lecturers to implement a suitable teaching model takes time. Thus, this study aimed to determine how student-teacher conferences and video-recorded microteaching sessions (VRMS) affected pre-service teachers’ competences. Besides, the self-reflection of the pre-service teachers after watching their own teaching performance video and the conference with the lecturer was also investigated to see their behaviors towards their teaching performances. This mixed-method study involved one group and applied three main instruments to collect data: interviews (student-teacher conferences), checklists of teacher self-evaluation forms, and teaching practicum performance tests using a scoring rubric adapted from Brown (2000). There were 20 participants who were taking the Microteaching Course at the Department of English Education, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The study was conducted in one consecutive semester consisting of 16 meetings, each of which was 200 minutes long (4 credits). The results proved that student-teacher conferences and VRMS stimulated pre-service teachers’ teaching competences. Pre-service teachers grew their self-reflection after watching their own teaching videos and understood their strengths and weaknesses after getting student-teacher conferences. It implies that the improvement of their teaching competences resulted from a process involving the willingness to do self-reflection and the lecturer’s help in understanding what areas the pre-service teachers had to improve. The implications of the study are also presented and discussed in this paper.

The Pedagogical Value of Student Conferences: A Study on Descriptive Text Instruction in Culinary Art Education

“…By implementing the conference method, students acquire a deep theoretical understanding of descriptive texts and the ability to apply them in practical contexts, particularly in culinary arts. Student conferencing allows students to discuss, share, and reflect on their understanding, ultimately enhancing the quality of their learning (Marhaban et al, 2023). Furthermore, this approach enables students to interact with teachers directly, receive immediate feedback, and deepen their comprehension of the material (Sowell, 2020).…”