Promoting Reflection among Science Student Teachers using a Web-based Video Analysis Tool

AbstractRecent efforts to design teacher education experiences using reflection as a philosophical orientation (Abell & Bryan, 1997) have shown that such experiences are influencing the way that teachers think about their practice, specifically teachers’ personal beliefs about teaching and learning. In this paper, we introduce the design and implementation of a video analysis tool that we are using to promote self-reflection and collaborative reflection in capstone courses for student teachers. Our use of this video analysis tool, VAT (VAT.uga.edu/), is based on a theoretically grounded rationale that draws on the parallels between conceptual change teaching (Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982) and coaching reflective practice. The description of our VAT implementation in student teaching courses is organized according to the three elements of the parallels between conceptual change learning and reflection in teacher development. In addition, we discuss the central role and necessity of student teach...