Eric.ed.gov – Evaluating Pre-Service Teachers Math Teaching Experience from Different Perspectives

Are pre-service teachers able to notice their strengths and challenges in teaching? This article reports on a study of pre-service teachers’ teaching performance being simultaneously evaluated by themselves and their professor. Thirty-two pre-service teachers created and planned mathematics lessons approved by their professor to be taught in elementary classrooms. The teaching experience of those teachers was videotaped and evaluated by the professor using the Field Assessment Observation Form in the areas of content knowledge, instruction, assessment, classroom management, and affective skills. Furthermore, the pre-service teachers completed a Self-Reflection answering their professors’ questions regarding their teaching experience. Mixed methods research analyzed the data. The findings of the quantitative data indicate pre-service teachers evaluated themselves higher than what their professor did in assessment and time management. Moreover, the findings of the qualitative data indicated there were similarities in student engagement, inquiry teaching, and scaffolding identified through the teaching performance between pre-service teachers and their professor.