Benefits and Challenges in the Presentation of Microlessons in Teacher Training at the University of Technology

Abstract

This research aimed to evaluate whether providing microlessons once a year at every stage of training is advantageous for student-teachers. The research was qualitative and used a phenomenological design to explore the perceptions, experiences and feelings of purposively selected B Ed students and lecturers regarding microteaching. The research population was Central University of Technology, Faculty of Humanities. The sample involved forty-two participants, twenty-four B Ed students and eighteen micro lesson assessors who are lecturers at the university. In addition to the literature review, focus group interviews and open-ended questionnaires were -used to collect data. The findings revealed that student teachers practice and gain different skills during different phases of micro lessons which lead to modification of their teaching behaviour. It was further found that microteaching improves students’ subject matter knowledge since they realize the importance of mastery of subject matter and their weaknesses in content. Moreover, the findings suggest that micro-teaching should not be scheduled once a year as it is currently happening but should be increased to at least twice a year at all levels. This is in spite of the fact that microlessons reduce the amount of time available for teaching and require extensive preparation. According to this discovery, the research suggests that students should arrange extra micros independently, during which they will assess each other, record videos, and hand in the videos for the lecturer to evaluate.

Keywords

• microteaching
• microlesson
• student teachers
• teaching practice.