| Reflection has long been considered an integral part of the teaching process (Dewey, 1910, Lee, 2005). However, there is little research evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of various strategies in promoting reflection (Hatton & Smith, 1995). This study evaluated the effectiveness of two instructional strategies that used teaching video clips to increase the sophistication of student analysis of teaching, a method to scaffold the reflective process. The first intervention had the students analyze teaching video clips in cooperative learning groups using a critical friends. protocol and the second intervention had the students analyze the teaching video clips individually. The effects of the two interventions were compared through a single-subject, alternating treatments design research study.;Fifty-one pre-service teachers in three sections of the course Frameworks of Teaching at Colorado State University - Pueblo participated in this study. The study spanned seven lessons -some using cooperative learning, others individual learning. Across all lessons and sections the median score for students using cooperative learning was 65.83% and the median score for students using individual learning was 51.72% (p=.00005). Even more pronounced results occurred for higher order critical analyses.;The results of this study support the use of cooperative learning using a critical friends' protocol to scaffold analysis of teaching videos as well as the general use of cooperative learning, in particular, for tasks that require higher order cognitive thinking. |
