Effects of group discussion and modeling on undergraduate student teachers' ability to observe classes

The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of group discussion and modeling on undergraduate student teachers' ability to observe classes, focusing on the differences between second-year university students (N = 55) who had not had experience as student teachers and third-year university students (N = 67) who had done some student teaching. The major findings were as follows: (a) after modeling was provided, the quantity of problems identified by both groups of students increased, (b) after group discussion and modeling were provided, the quantity of problems that the second-year group identified regarding teachers' basic pedagogical skills increased, and (c) the quantity of alternative plans that the students proposed for the classes did not increase following group discussion and modeling.