Supporting and enhancing student teachers’ professional development during their internship online

Design and Implementation of an Online-Course

Abstract

Internships hold significant value as crucial learning opportunities for the acquisition of competences for student teachers. Consequently, the provision of university support during these internships becomes imperative to establish a targeted integration between theoretical knowledge and practical application. E-learning formats are gaining prominence due to their capacity to facilitate learning under specific conditions, enabling students to engage in learning independent from time and space. The primary aim of the course design presented in this article is to oversee a semester-long practicum within primary school teacher-training program, utilizing the capabilities of digital tools and resources. Through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous formats, the digital course attempts to initiate sustainable learning and reflective processes. The theoretical and empirical foundation of the design is the “Community of Inquiry” framework (Garrison, 2017). In addition, we present evaluation results of the digitally supported concept based on data from 140 primary school teacher trainees. The assessment reveals that the asynchronous modules of the course receive positive feedback in terms of their effectiveness in assisting student teachers with planning and designing their own lessons. Based on the students’ perception, the synchronous online sessions appear to provide a comparatively lesser learning benefit. However, regression analyses suggest that the asynchronous Module 3 for adaptive lesson design and assessment contributes significantly to students’ satisfaction with the course. Additionally, feedback received from the lecturers during the synchronous online sessions also holds explanatory value.