Source: Teacher Education and Special Education, v. 32 no. 4 (November 2009) p. 297-318.
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)
Interactive, multimedia cases with technology supports present new ways of teaching and learning in teacher education.
In this mixed-methods, naturalistic study, the authors examine how and what participants learn from multimedia cases and, in particular, how instructional implementation affects learning outcomes from multimedia cases.
The following research questions guided this research:
1) How does instructional implementation affect learning outcomes from multimedia CBI?
2) What do participants learn from multimedia CBI?
3) What do participants perceive they learn from multimedia CBI?
Multimedia cases with technology supports were implemented in 20 different higher education courses with varying University of Missouri--Columbia instructional modes involving 251 pre-service and practicing teacher education students from four different universities.
Each instructor implemented a minimum of two multimedia cases into one course per semester for four semesters. Multiple methods of quantitative and qualitative inquiry and analysis were conducted within and across the implementation groups.
Data were collected on 251 research participants who represented a full range of students enrolled in teacher preparation programs as both pre-service students and in-service teachers working on advanced degrees or certification/endorsement areas.
The research pool included students with and without teaching experience while enrolled in the courses: 42.8% had no teaching experience, 15.5% were novices with up to 3 years' experience, and 41.6% had 3 or more years of prior teaching experience. In terms of access to classrooms for application of knowledge and skills during training, 58.5% were not teaching while enrolled and 41.5% were simultaneously teaching while enrolled in their courses.
Results indicate that how multimedia cases are integrated into courses makes a difference in case-based learning outcomes and that these differences are evidenced in both quantitative and qualitative data. Overall, significant learning occurred for all instructional implementation groups with one exception--limiting use of cases to context for additional course assignments was not effective.
The data clearly demonstrated that teacher educators can enhance learning from cases such as these by incorporating within-case activities that provide a knowledge base, scaffolds to support use of knowledge and development of skills, and supports for applying what they have learned to solve, review, and reflect on authentic problems of practice.