Abstract

Research states that reflection is the foundation for improved teaching (Dewey, 1933). As a result, educators have used many methods to facilitate teacher reflections. Some of these methods include keeping reflective journals, conducting peer teaching sessions, providing written feedback, giving lesson critiques, conducting action research projects, and using reflective conferences (Cook, Young & Evenson, 2001). As video has become more accessible, educators have also become interested in using video analysis tools to facilitate teacher reflections. However, very little has been published on how the use of video analysis tools influences teacher reflections. If reflection is the foundation for improved teaching, it is important for educators and researchers to understand how the use of these tools impacts teacher reflections. Therefore, the focus of this study was to understand the experience of a supervisor and student teacher as they used a video analysis tool to reflect on teaching. The researcher included thick descriptions of participants' experiences, so researchers and educators interested in using video analysis tools to facilitate reflection will be able to transfer the findings to their individual circumstances. This study compared a student teacher's experience reflecting with a video analysis tool to her experience participating in her department's traditional reflection method, which was a post-lesson conference with her supervisor. The researcher investigated how these reflection methods influenced the student teacher's ability to collect data about her teaching, make judgments about her teaching, design intervention plans for future teaching situations, and evaluate her intervention plans. The participants indicated that both video analysis and the traditional reflection method were beneficial for reflection. Although both methods were beneficial, the student teacher felt that using video analysis to reflect was more useful than the department's traditional reflection method for helping her understand the changes she wanted to make in her teaching. The student teacher felt that video analysis was more useful than the traditional reflection method because it allowed her to notice things that she did not remember or attend to during her lesson, it helped her focus her reflections on specific aspects of her teaching, and the video clips provided evidence to support her discussions with her supervisor.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Instructional Psychology and Technology

Rights

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