Perceptions of pre-service teachers on breakout room micro-teaching with Zoom

Abstract

Due to the emergence of Covid-19, many educators moved from a face-to-face teaching environment to an online microteaching setting using Zoom. This study explores pre-service teachers’ perspectives on microteaching within Zoom’s breakout rooms. The authors approached this study from a positivist-postpositivist perspective employing a mixed-methods methodology. The exploratory sequential mixed-method design employed here combines qualitative and quantitative data. Analysis entailed open coding of data from Zoom recordings and statistical analysis of a post-course survey. Convenience sampling of pre-service teachers (PSTs) from a teacher education teaching method course provided the data sets. Findings indicate that microteaching activities within breakout rooms facilitated an environment where pre-service teachers engaged and conversed with peers while developing teaching skills. PSTs valued breakout room interactions, though males and females valued different aspects. Finally, although the findings suggest that microteaching in Zoom’s breakout rooms is effective, the findings indicate that the pre-service teachers desired a return to the classroom. This research extends previous research on online microteaching student experiences by providing recommendations regarding microteaching via video conferences.

Keywords

• Breakout rooms
• gender
• microteaching
• online teaching
• teacher education
• Zoom