Shaping Student Teacher Expertise: A Design to Converge Feedback, Technology, and Social Relationships

Abstract

The current push to improve teacher effectiveness calls for high-quality teacher preparation programs that provides preservice teachers with impactful learning opportunities. At the heart of this teacher training is delivering high-quality feedback to the preservice teachers during their practicum experience. Employing design-based research and social network analysis methodologies, this study set out to 1) examine the support infrastructure surrounding preservice teachers at the critical time of their practicum experience, and 2) put forth new approaches, rooted in technology and social networking, in an effort to enhance support to preservice teachers. The findings sheds light on the student teachers' feedback network and suggests the study's interventions influenced the quantity and quality of the exchanged feedback.