Bringing real children into the online English curriculum: Digital case books in teacher education

Sue Nichols

Paper for the Australian Computers in Education Conference, Adelaide 2014

Abstract

One of the challenges of teacher education has always been to create authentic connections

with the world of professional practice so that students experience the relevance of their

university learning. This challenge has taken on renewed urgency with the move to

integrating online learning into pre-service teacher education courses. The Authentic

Literacy Data Analysis project (ALDA) was established to develop and trial the use of digital

resources in the form of learner case books. These digital case books contain multiple kinds

of evidence gathered from school classrooms relating to specific children at a range of year

and ability levels. This paper describes the process of implementing ALDA in the

undergraduate English curriculum in a pilot study involving a cohort of 125 third year

students. A case-based approach using multimedia digital resources engages pre-service

educators in active decision making and bridges the gap between theory and practice.

Introduction

In order to equip graduates to practice effectively as educational practitioners, university

teacher education courses need to provide encounters with the world of practice and also

the conceptual tools with which to make sense of this world. A central dimension of

teaching is the interpretation of evidence of student learning; judgements based on such

interpretation should be informing teachers' pedagogical decision making. This paper

reports the development and integration of digital resources aimed at supporting pre-

service educators' interpretation of evidence.

The recently implemented National Professional Standards for Teachers makes clear that

the use of student data is an integral component of professional practice. The use of student

data is involved in “[d]ifferentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students

across the full range of abilities” (AITSL 2011, p. 9). The Standards outline competencies for

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each career stage; graduate teachers are expected to “demonstrate their capacity to

interpret student assessment data to evaluate student learning and modify teaching

practice” (AITSL 2011, p. 5).

Undergraduate teacher education has for some time incorporated the concept of arguing

from evidence into courses. However it has been observed that pre-service teachers

experience difficulty with successfully undertaking analytical tasks, particularly those whose

prior academic record is not strong (Brennan & Zipin, 2006 p. 337 – 8). Bainbridge and Macy

found that pre-service educators viewed assessment as "one of their weakest areas"

(Bainbridge & Macy, 2008 p. 73). Making judgements requires independent critical thinking.

However critical thinking has often been taught in isolation from curriculum courses, which

creates a barrier to students drawing on curriculum-based materials to build their analytic

skills.

The use of digital resources to analyse student data is more prevalent in schools than in

teacher education programs. Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al (2012) surveyed both teachers and

teacher educators regarding their use of electronic resources and found that teacher

training institutions incorporated a very narrow range of uses into their programs. They

found that while 54% of school-based teachers regularly used digital resources to produce

and/or analyse student data, only 25% of teacher educators incorporated this into

programs. This points to another issue in the preparation of teachers that could be

addressed by the incorporation of digital cases using authentic student data.

Connecting with Practice in the Online Learning Environment

Professional practice is carried out in contexts which are social, embodied and situated

(Schatzki, 2001; Macklin, 2009). Most graduates of professional programs in higher

education will work in material settings where they interact with others face to face in real

time. The shift to online delivery in higher education has had many positive consequences

including enabling students in rural and remote locations to acquire a professional

qualification. However, it has also created challenges for curriculum areas in which

professional practice has strong interactive and embodied dimensions. This problem has

generated considerable activity as higher education developers have sought to develop

approaches to representing practice contexts in digital environments. These include virtual

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simulations of professional environments in which students can encounter scenarios and

practice skills (Segrave & Holt, 2003; Saltmarsh & Sutherland-Smith, 2010).

An alternative approach seeks to create rich multimedia documentations of practices

involving real-world participants in authentic contexts (Lieberman & Mace, 2010). Unlike

simulations, real-world documentations provide higher education students with access to

the experiences and perspectives of actual participants in professional practice contexts

such as (in the case of Education) learners and teachers.

Case-based reasoning (CBR) within higher education offers one solution to the problem of

connecting students to the world of professional practice (cf Kim & Hannafin, 2007;

Jonassen, Wang, Strobel & Cenusca, 2003). In this approach, problems or issues of practice

form the basis of curriculum activities which invite students to enter into professional

scenarios and practice their interpretive and decision making skills. Digital technologies are

enabling curriculum designers to create more authentic case presentations. Layering

different sources of evidence enables designers to produce rich resources. Zottman et al

(2012) provided sections of video from an English class in an online learning object that

included ‘‘perspective of the teacher’’ and ‘‘perspective of the learner’’ links to audio of

interviews. Kim and Hannafin (2007) presented cases based on exemplary lessons including

video of classroom practice, teacher reflection, work samples and planning materials.

Many CBR examples focus centrally on teaching rather than making the learner the primary

focus. However there appear to be some challenges associated with this approach including

pre-service educators' resistance to accepting an exemplary teacher's expert judgement

(Kim & Hannafin, 2007). There may be advantages in a case-based approach that focuses on

individual students as the basis of cases. Teacher in practice are required to make

professional judgements about individual students. In this project, the learner has been put

at the centre of the case and the focus is on pre-service educators making use of evidence

of learning to come to educational judgements.

The project

The Authentic Literacy Data Analysis (ALDA) involves the development of digital case books

and their integration into a pre-service teacher education course Studies in English

Teaching. The project, funded by a UniSA Teaching and Learning Development Grant, was

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piloted in 2012 with a cohort of 125 students and is currently being fully implemented with

a cohort of 500 second year students. The core ALDA team comprised two teacher

educators and a research assistant. In the online development phase, we were assisted by

two online education developers whose time was provided by the Technology Education

Learning (TEL) project within the School of Education.

The intended learning outcomes of this project were that:

Participating pre-service teachers will gain skills in the analysis of authentic student

data for the purpose of instructional decision making;

Project team members will gain skills in the development of digital resources.

The course teaching team will gain experience in the integration of authentic student

data, in digital form, into undergraduate curriculum in English.

Provide a model and pedagogical support for the development of online data packs

and resources for other curriculum areas.

The project design combines CBR’s focus on learner-centred case-based reasoning with

data-based critical analysis. The use of authentic data is central to this endeavour. The

digital case books comprised evidence from actual case study children, representing a range

of year levels and ability profiles.

Recruitment

Two primary schools accepted our invitation to collaborate in the project and a third

declined. Consent was obtained from teachers and the parents of case study children to

conduct interviews and collect literacy materials. Four year levels from each school provided

classes: Reception and Years 2, 4 and 6.

Teachers were asked to select three children representing a high, middle and low achieving

student similar to the selection method used in the Case Technologies Enhancing Literacy

Learning project (Shrader et al, 2003). Additionally, teachers were asked to ensure that both

males and females were represented and, if possible the ethnic diversity of the school was

represented.

Collecting authentic materials

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Following an initial orientation visit to each participating teacher, teams of 2-3 researchers

visited the teacher's class to collect data. Generally at least two visits and, in some cases,

three were needed. A companion paper (Neill 2014) explains this process in depth including

challenges with recording and the use of multiple hardware and software platforms.

Because the cases were based on individual students, the selection of data was student

focused. Each child was videoed reading aloud to the teacher except in year 6 classes where

this was no longer routine practice. During these read aloud sessions, teachers took a

running record, which is a form that records and analyses a child's 'miscues'. For instance, if

a child reads a different word from the one in the text this is noted.

Each child was asked to select a piece of their own writing to talk about with a researcher.

During these conversations, researchers also asked more general questions about the child's

orientation to literacy. Several examples of the child's text production were scanned or

photographed on the spot.

Each teacher was recorded speaking about the focus child. Before the recording, teachers

were reminded about the audience (pre-service educators) and asked to be explicit in

specifying the child's strengths and learning difficulties in the area of literacy. They were

invited to mention any information they considered relevant including insights into the

child's family background and parental involvement. Teachers also provided additional

materials which they felt comfortable in releasing including literacy resources and de-

identified class assessment records.

Integration of digital case books

From the eight classes involved, the cases from three were selected for piloting, nine cases

in total.. At this point, various options for the integration of cases in the online learning

environment were considered. Zottman and colleagues (2012) recommend "non-linear,

multi-dimensional presentation of contents" in designing a case-based learning

environment. The digital case book format was selected for flexibility, enabling multiple

entry points and as well its compatibility with the existing course site organisation.

Each case book includes the following elements:

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Video of student reading aloud to teacher

Scanned copy of the read aloud book

Scanned copy of the reading record form completed by the teacher

Three to five work samples representing a range of tasks

Audio interview with teacher

Audio interview with child

Depending on the teacher's consent and practice, additional class level information was

provided for some classes. This included grade records and teaching resources.

For the pilot, the digital case books were published to the course site but were not explicitly

linked to other course elements such as readings. They simply replaced non-authentic

materials previously used in the case study assignment. This approach is recognised as the

most basic level of integration (Masdri, el Basri, Norton & Newsum, 2012).

The second phase currently in progress involves their integration into the course through

associated learning tasks and supporting materials.

Collecting evidence of outcomes

The second assignment for English 2, a third year course, involved students in analysing case

study material developed in the ALDA project. Students were informed of the ALDA project

and invited to make their assignments available for analysis. Analysis was conducted by a

researcher who was not on the English 2 teaching team and it was made clear to students

that the research analysis would be completely separate from their course assessment.

From a total of 125 students, 19 volunteered their assignments. This is a small percentage

therefore caution is necessary when interpreting results. Initial analysis addressed the

following questions:

Which cases did the students choose to analyse?

Which sources of evidence did students use?

How did students engage with the evidence?

Interviews were also undertaken with three teacher educators and written comments were

received from a fourth. Interview questions focused on the teacher educator's own

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response to the digital case books, the responses of their students and their view of learning

outcomes based on student assignments. Interview data was analysed thematically.

Findings: Teacher Educator Interviews

Teacher educators were very positive about the resource and in particular praised its

authenticity. The terms 'real' and 'authentic' were not used in interview questions; however

they were used by the educators to describe what they saw as a key strength of the

resource. In developing this theme, they drew comparisons between the digital case book

materials and the text book examples that are more commonly available to students.

Moira, an experienced school teacher and casual tutor, referred to a common assessment

practice, the taking of a 'running record'. This involves the teacher completing an

assessment form while a child reads aloud. In their course, students are shown exemplary

running records and demonstrations conducted in ideal circumstances. However the digital

case books showed video of teachers taking running records in the context of busy, crowded

noisy classrooms.

That’s what I think is good for our students, to see that [example of classroom

practice]. To not see the video of the perfect running record. I mean I can do that

with them. I can give them that model of how it’s meant to be but then they see

what really goes on, what will happen for them as well. Why should our students be

trying to prepare for a perfect world?

Teacher educators reported that students wanted more evidence and examples for each

child. This is despite the digital case books representing a considerable increase in the range

and quantity of evidence that had been made available for this assignment in previous

courses. In addressing this concern, teacher educators again made reference to the 'real

world' of professional practice. Margie, a senior teacher educator, reported:

[S]ome of the students would say "Well I wish I had more writing" or "I wish I had

…"; one of my responses was "This is the real world, this is what this teacher collects

and this is what we have and we analyse what we have here."

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The selection of cases was also commented on in relation to the course's scope, covering

early years to middle years of schooling. The cases covered Reception (school entry) to Year

6, however some students in the course were training to teach in pre-schools and child care

centres. Prue, an early childhood teacher educator asked:

How do the early childhood students contextualize the content in the English courses

for preschool and childcare? We need to have a set of case study materials made for

preschool age children: one child three and a half and another five years old.

Integration of the digital case books with other course resources was identified as requiring

further development. In this pilot stage, nothing changed in the course except for the

substitution of digital case books for the previous contrived materials. According to Margie,

who was teaching this course for the first time, the set texts did not provide sufficient

support for students in interpreting the child cases:

I didn’t like the [course text book] because there weren't examples and if [students]

don't see children's writing examples, they don't know what they're supposed to

look like. So that was one area where if I were to do this again, I would make sure

that the models that they have to draw on have concrete examples.

In order to use the case books effectively in class, teacher educators needed to familiarise

themselves with the various forms of evidence. This meant they had to engage in the same

kinds of interpretive thinking that their students were required to demonstrate. Moira

described how she worked across multiple sources in coming to her own understanding of

each case:

I wasn’t quite sure in the beginning. So I spent some time looking at all of them.

Listening to the teacher speak was very enlightening. It was good to have that. And

hearing the child speak about what they were doing was really helpful as well. And I

needed to look really closely at them before I expected the students to have an

understanding.

This is consistent with the finding from a similar study that using digital case-based materials

for the first time necessitated significant time for professors to "completely explore all

elements of a case" (Schrader et al 2003, p. 333).

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Findings: Student Assignments

Cases chosen

Students were required to present two case studies and could choose from three sets (Year

2, Year4, Year 6). The most popular child cases were Imogen and James in the Year 2 set.

This can be understood in relation to the program cohort which is constituted of three

specialisation groups: Early Childhood, Junior Primary/Primary and Primary Middle. The

Early Childhood group is training to work with children no older than Year 2.

Most students chose one girl and one boy for their two cases. In selecting Imogen and

James, students were also choosing more highly contrastive cases, with the third child

(Tabitha) having been identified by the teacher (in discussion with the researchers) as in the

middle rank of achievement.

Sources of evidence

Nearly all students referred to at least three different sources of evidence in coming to

judgements about students’ strengths and needs. Only one student used fewer than three

sources while five students used more than four sources.

Table 1: Examples of students' use of evidence from the digital case books

Form of evidence

References (total = 19)

Example

Child's writing sample

17 “Imogen’s writing is situated in the Early Writing phase of the First Steps (2013b) continuum. This is highlighted when she uses sound-letter knowledge to spell irregular words- “Madurgasgu”, “biskuerts”, “sosigerill” … " (Student 2)

Running record form.

15 "Imogen decodes unknown words through the use of phonemes and syllables, which is evident in her running record, e.g. cor-ru-gated." (Student 6)

Teacher interview about the child (audio)

15 "For homework each night they are required to do LSCWC for all of their spelling words for the week. On Friday the teacher looks through their homework book, James homework is not always completed." (Student 3)

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Interview with child (audio)

13 "James likes to draw monsters on his iPod at home. Expressing his ideas using technology in class in particularly for English may help him engage more and enjoy writing and reading process." (Student 13)

Child reading aloud (video).

10 "When reading Tabitha lacks fluency, this maybe one of the reasons why she isn’t gaining inferential meaning from the text." (Student 14)

The student work samples were the most commonly referred to sources (17 students) while

the reading records and teacher interviews were also referred to by 15 students. This may

reflect the strong emphasis on teachers conducting running records which is currently the

case in the education system, and has been observed by students when on their

professional placement.

Engagement with the evidence

More detailed analysis is needed to get a clear picture of patterns in students’ approaches

to using the evidence. However, some points can be made at this stage. First, it appeared

that the multimedia presentation of evidence provided students with important clues as to

the case study child's orientation to literacy. There was evidence that students were

attending to visual and auditory information when interpreting children’s skills and

attitudes:

When asked about these interests James’ voice seemed to spark and get louder,

showing some excitement. (Student 6)

[I]t was noticed in the video of Child Two reading that she is still utilising finger

pointing to assist with her reading which may be holding back her development in

other areas.(Student 15)

Secondly, students drew on conceptual resources from their course in order to make sense

of the cases. For instance, they looked for evidence that would justify assigning children to

developmental categories based frameworks encountered in their course:

The first steps developmental continuum (2013) states that transitional writers

‘consider audience and purpose when selecting ideas and information to be included

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in texts’. Tabitha structures her recount by using words such as first, next, then, after

and finally […] (Student 5)

Jack is in the ‘developing’ phase of the English as an EALD scale, according to his

score of 6 in the student data (DECD, 2012, p.13). This level is demonstrated in Jack

constructing some written texts with confidence, such as his Aldinga Coastlines

Information Report. (Student 17)

This is consistent with Zottman et al's (2012) finding that students using digital case-based

resources demonstrated significantly greater application of concepts that a control group.

Third, being provided with multiple different sources of evidence on a child seemed to

prompt some students to exercise critical and independent thinking. Different lenses on the

child opened up different possibilities for interpretation; thus the case books did not

offering a transparent window on the child. This created the possibility of students noticing

the interpretive nature of teachers' judgements rather than treating them as authoritative.

Several questioned or even disputed the case study children's teachers based on their own

dissenting analysis of some of the data:

According to the recording the teacher states that James’ comprehension is quite

good, but looking at the running record it looks as if his comprehension is actually

quite poor. It would also seem that the teacher may have made some mistakes when

marking the running record [ … ] (Student 4)

The teacher has inferred that James will be like his brother and not be the best

student when it comes to literature. This shows me that she needs to learn turn-

around pedagogies techniques and not to label him and put him in a box. (Student

18)

This finding differs from that of Kim and Hannafin (2007) who also implemented digital case

based resources into a teacher education course. They found that pre-service teachers

"engaged in detailed case analysis reluctantly" and "did not apply expert knowledge" (Kim

and Hannafin 2007 p. 167). This difference may be related to contextual factors, particularly

the overall goal with which students were presented. In the case of Kim and Hannafin's

project, the case-based materials were used in relation to a programming assignment in

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which students were required to develop their teaching plans. In the ALDA project, the

summative assignment was a case study report in which the analysis of evidence was

central.

Conclusion

In the past, curriculum courses have been viewed as theoretical while the practicum was

seen as the ‘real’ learning arena for practice. This separation created obstacles to applying

curriculum knowledge to practice. The pilot stage of the ALDA project involved the

development of digital case books and their implementation in an undergraduate teacher

education course in English teaching. Through accessing authentic multimedia

documentation of teachers and students performing and discussion literacy learning, our

pre-service educators were better able to see the relevance of content knowledge.

Evidence of student learning outcomes in this project was limited to the analysis of

assignments volunteered by a small group of students and to tutors' perceptions. However,

the digital casebooks appear to be a powerful way to integrate professional practice

scenarios into a curriculum course in teacher education. These connections were evident in

students’ use of case materials in their assignments. It was noted that students drew on

concepts encountered in the course when interpreting this data. Students used at least

three different kinds of data from the case books in coming to conclusions about the

learning strengths and needs of the focus children.

Teacher educators were pleased with students’ assignments and strongly endorsed the

authenticity of the resource which they saw as a useful complement to the contrived

exemplary materials available in textbooks. At the same time, they experienced the

necessity of spending time with the materials, considering the possibilities of interpretation.

This sensitised them to the challenges for students of working with the materials.

There are various ways of integrating authentic materials into courses. Strengths of this

approach included the focus on individual students as the basis of the case, the integration

of the cases with a summative assignment which made use of the case materials essential,

the provision of multiple forms of evidence and the use of the case book format for

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presenting case materials. Taken together, these elements encouraged a consistent focus

on the child as the subject of educators’ interpretive practices.

The next iteration of the project will incorporate a pre- and post- survey focused on

students' knowledge and confidence related to the use of learner evidence to make

instructional decisions.

References

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