Good teaching practices in an action research course for promoting pre-service science teachers’ research ability for improving their teaching practices

Abstract

     This two-year qualitative inquiry aimed to explore good teaching practices in an action research course that promoted pre-service science teachers’ research ability for improving their own practices. Forty-four participants of this study were from two cohorts of master degree program under the Project for the Promotion of Science and Mathematics Talented Teacher (PSMT), of a public university in Bangkok. To achieve the research aim, data were collected from multiple data sources, including the research skill evaluation form, exit slips, classroom artifacts, videotape of instructions, and instructor’s journal. By assessing the participants’ skills in doing action research, the data from the evaluation forms were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Thematic analysis was used for eliciting good teaching practices in the course. Results show that most of the pre-service teachers have a high ability level in conducting classroom action research after learning through the research course. Findings reveal that good practice for this course is a creation and maintenance of a) positive classroom atmosphere, b) critical friend communities, and c) hands-on activities that allow the leaners to teach their peers. Findings of this study help to fulfill research gap on how to teach pre-service teachers in a way that promotes their self-development.