The match and mismatch of student teachers' and cooperating teachers' conceptual levels on student teachers' concerns and performance

Maria Fernandez Power, Fordham University

Abstract

This study sought to determine: (a) the differential effects of matching student teachers' and cooperating teachers' conceptual level over student teachers' final performance, and (b) the variation between the phases of concerns, self, task, and impact, between the matched and mismatched student teachers and cooperating teachers by conceptual level at the onset, midpoint, and termination of the student teaching experience. A non-random sample of 40 cooperating teachers and 40 student teachers took the Paragraph Completion Method Test (Hunt, Butler, Noy, & Rosser, 1978) for classification purposes. Subject were classified according to the obtained conceptual level as low or high. The stages of Concern Questionnaire (SOCQ) was administered to the student teachers at three different periods during the semester to measure their stages of concern. Three phases of concerns, self, tasks, and impact, were examined during the study at the onset, midpoint, and termination of the academic semester. The performance of student teachers was measured through the Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments (TPAI) from Georgia University. The final performance of student teachers scores, using the TPAI, was used for the statistical analysis. Inferential statistics were performed applying t tests and ANOVA at the.05 level of significance to determine the overall significance differences among the means. Results revealed: (a) a significant difference between the matched and mismatched groups in final performance, except for the combination of the matched L-L with the mismatched L-H category; (b) none of the concern phases were significant except for the self and impact phases at the mid-point of the student teaching experience. Conclusions were: (a) the personological influence of cooperating teachers over student teachers' performance tended to be important on their final performance; (b) in the overall analysis, there was no statistical difference between the phases of concern and periods of the SOCQ administration and matching conditions; (c) the low-low (L-L) combination for the three administrations remained remained high in the self phase of concern, reflecting apparent personological influence between the cooperating teacher and student teacher interaction. The nonstatistical difference occurrence may have been due to the fact that the self concerns were not resolved.

Subject Area

Teacher education

Recommended Citation

Power, Maria Fernandez, "The match and mismatch of student teachers' and cooperating teachers' conceptual levels on student teachers' concerns and performance" (1989). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8918457.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8918457

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