Title: Enhancing pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for technology integration through lesson planning practice

Author Name: Nooshin Haddadian

1. Introduction

Technology integration in classrooms has always been a controversial topic in education, particularly with the rapid advancements in digital tools and resources. Recent research identifies several factors influencing technology integration, including access to resources, environmental and technical support, school culture, and teachers’ beliefs, such as self-efficacy. Grounded in Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, which defines self-efficacy as the belief of an individual in their ability to perform tasks, this research aims to explore practical approaches like targeted lesson planning and fostering positive attitudes toward technology, which lead to more effective and empowered teacher education courses.

Why Self-Efficacy Matters

2. Overview of the Case

The population of this study consisted of 136 undergraduate students who attended a teacher education university in South Korea. These subjects were predominantly freshmen who had high motivation to enhance their technology integration skills and therefore joined a technology integration course. The course included media development, lectures on technology integration, and lesson planning practice using the ASSURE model. The ASSURE model is an instructional design framework designed to integrate media and technology into classrooms effectively. Students worked on creating lesson plans relevant to their subject areas and received detailed feedback to ensure they were on the right track. The participants came from diverse academic backgrounds (e.g., science education, elementary education), which added richness and depth to the study.

Digital Story about ASSURE Model

3. Solutions Implemented

This course adopted a multi-level approach to enhancing SETI by connecting theory and practice along many dimensions: Students attended lectures on history of instructional media, principles of designing multimedia, and effective use of technology in the classroom. During these lectures, the interconnectedness of content, pedagogy and technology was highlighted using the TPACK framework. Secondly, students were taught to develop instructional media using Photoshop, Audacity and Windows Movie Maker. This also had a practical aspect, through which they also developed practical abilities of the preparation of teaching aids. Finally, the practice on the development of lesson plans formed the basis of this course. Through the use of the ASSURE model, students developed lessons on how they could integrate technology in their subject areas. Comments were given for refinement after they had submitted their draft papers. This kind of iteration helps in closing the gap between theoretical and practice.

The multi-level approach to enhancing SETI involves three key stages:

1. Lectures on Theory
   • Covered topics such as the history of instructional media, multimedia design principles, and the interconnectedness of content, pedagogy, and technology through the TPACK framework.
2. Developing Instructional Media
   • Focused on building practical skills using tools like Photoshop, Audacity, and Windows Movie Maker.
   • Emphasized creating teaching aids to enhance practical abilities.
3. Lesson Plan Development
   • Students developed lesson plans using the ASSURE model, integrating technology into their subject areas.
   • Drafts were refined through feedback to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

TPACK in 2 Minutes

 

TPACK framework (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge)

4. Outcomes

The research showed there were significant improvements in participants’ SETI from pre-course to post-course assessments. The strongest variable was lesson planning variable, which significantly affect SETI growth. Interestingly, although instructional media development and conceptual knowledge were part of the course, their impact on SETI was less pronounced compared to lesson planning. Path analysis showed that while TAC (teachers’ attitude towards computers) influenced SETI directly, lesson planning had a dual effect—both directly enhancing SETI and indirectly contributing via attitudinal growth. The results imply that activities within the course must be explicitly associated with real classroom teaching situations if students are to build up confidence as well as competence in using the technologies.

 

5. Implications

The results of this study provide significant implications for the design of teacher preparation programs. To begin with, we believe that lesson planning activities should form an essential part of such courses because they are realistic, context-based learning situations that interrelate technology, pedagogy and content knowledge. Also, it is necessary to emphasize positive attitudes toward technology because they are important predictors of self-efficacy and teaching practices. The programs should include activities focused on both the affective and cognitive dimensions related to the use of technology, for instance, projects, micro-teaching, or classroom practice. Further studies could examine whether the inclusion of practical components or longer feedback loops would improve aspects of SETI further. These findings can be of paramount importance for policymakers in education and for curriculum developers to develop teachers who are well equipped with the confidence to integrate technology into classrooms.

 

6. References 

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