Leveraging Millennial Students' Experience: Using an Experiential Learning Framework to Teach New Teachers

Leveraging Millennial Students' Experience: Using an Experiential Learning Framework to Teach New Teachers

Grant:
Investigating Student Learning Grant (ISL)
Academic Year:
2010 - 2011 (June 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011)
Funding Requested:
$4,000.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
mariajc
gwynmor
Overview of the Project:
The Ann Arbor Languages Partnership is a program designed to teach mostly non-education majors, whom we refer to as "apprentice teachers" or "ATs" how to teach Spanish to third and fourth graders, and how to develop appropriate curriculum materials, assessments, activities, and interactive skills. Our focus was on understanding the "millennial generation's" particular applications of an experiential learning model and the ways in which their growth and development resulted in both teaching improvements in their 3rd and 4th grade classrooms as well as programmatic improvements for A2LP as a whole. Our research questions were:A. Choosing and using representations, examples, and models of contentWith what experiences in the classroom and seminar do ATs become confident and competent to choose and use representations, examples, and models of content independently? B. Establishing norms and routines for classroom discourse and work that are central to the contentFrom what modeled situations, class discussions, reflective dialogues, peer interactions, or classroom experiences do ATs learn about establishing content-appropriate norms and routines? C. Analyzing and improving specific elements of one's own teachingHow do ATs use reflective practice to improve their knowledge, skills, attitudes, and self-awareness regarding their practice?
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:
To teach non-education majors how to teach Spanish to elementary students and, in so doing, determine answers to the following questions: 1. From what programmatic structures—role plays and modeling, seminar discussions, written reflections, formal and informal peer interactions, and classroom teaching experiences—do apprentice teachers learn best about the practice of teaching? 2. In their individual reflections, which elements of the teaching and learning process are ATs most engaged with emotionally and intellectually?
Project Achievements:
The project resulted in:1. Improvements in the experiential course design based on AT feedback and commentary in focus groups2. Additional understanding around how to develop and shape graduate students' abilities to work in this kind of experiential design3. Clear linkages between traditional teacher education and this more experiential approach to teacher education4. A stronger ability to clarify the A2LP process to our primary partner, the Ann Arbor Public Schools5. A research paper presented at the American Educational Research Association with plans to submit that paper to various journals focused on teaching and teacher education.
Continuation:
The project began before we received the CRLT grant and is continuing into this coming school year and, likely, school years beyond.
Dissemination:
The project's findings were presented at the American Educational Research Association's annual conference. We intend to prepare an article for publication in a teacher education-related or experiential-learning-related journal.
Advice to your Colleagues:
The project's findings were presented at the American Educational Research Association's annual conference. We intend to prepare an article for publication in a teacher education-related or experiential-learning-related journal.
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