The Impact of Expanded Microteaching on the Teaching Anxiety - Free Essay with the Article Review

Murat Peker authored the article. The study was conducted in an unidentified school in Turkey. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of expanded microteaching on the teaching anxiety of pre-service mathematics teachers teaching a practicum course. The research question seeks to find whether or not expanded microteaching reduces teaching anxiety about mathematics in primary, secondary and high schools.
In the article, the author has reviewed some literature that reports negative impact of anxiety on the teaching performance. If the teacher is confident in classroom settings, it is expected that there bound to quality outcomes in the classroom context. In other words, the confidence of the teacher is critical in classroom settings if learners are to get the best instruction from their teachers. Therefore, it offers value for educationists that the focus of the article is reducing anxiety.

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The research purpose is aligned with the question in the sense that the purpose entails investigating the impact of expanded microteaching on the anxiety of mathematics teachers whereas the research question poses a more specific question about the reduction of anxiety, which is one of the effects of the research purpose. That is to say, the author would have chosen to frame the research question in a manner that seeks to know whether expanded micro-teaching increases anxiety. But because an increase in anxiety among teachers while teaching would not be a beneficial outcome for policymakers, it is befitting that the question to be answered in the study is a reduction of anxiety.

How the Author Links Literature Review with the Research Purpose and Research Question

The author introduces the article with an acknowledgment that mathematics is relatively difficult subject to learn and teach. Because of this perceived difficulty, the expectations of the teachers to deliver are very high. Although the problem of anxiety has been identified among in-service mathematics teachers, Peker notes that the level of anxiety among pre-service teachers is relatively higher. This literature review gives the reader background information on why the author is interested in anxiety among pre-service mathematics teachers. This is crucial because it gives the reason for carrying out a scholarly investigation into this area of study.

Through reference to research done earlier by the same author, the reader gets the sense of the need for the introduction of expanded microteaching when preparing trainee teachers for classroom environment. Through this literature review, the reader learns about the increased benefits of training pre-service teachers in an environment that captures real classroom conditions. It also enables the audience to identify anxiety reduction as the concern for the researcher hence creates a link between the literature review and the research question. The literature review about expanded micro-teaching further helps the audience to identify the knowledge gap which motivated the author to embark on a research mission. In other words, the literature review on expanded microteaching enables the reader to understand the reason as to why knowledge is needed in this aspect of teacher training process. As a result, the author succeeds in linking the literature review with the purpose of the study.

Appropriateness of the Method used in the Study

The use of quantitative approach in the study was appropriate because of the nature of the investigation that the researcher sought to do regarding pre-service mathematics teachers. Measurement of anxiety can be challenging in qualitative terms. This is due to the high potential of generating bias thereby undermining the credibility of the study altogether.

Alignment of Data Collection Instruments with purpose of the Study and Research question

Data were collected from the individual participants and information captured on certain qualities about learning. These qualities included content knowledge, self- confidence, attitude towards mathematics, and teaching knowledge. The Mathematics Teaching Anxiety Scale (MATAS) was used to measure these factors.

The MATAS was developed from previous research where the content knowledge, attitude towards mathematics, teaching knowledge and self-confidence were identified as some of the most influential factors for quality teaching in the classroom environment. The literature also indicated that negative aspects of these factors contribute significantly to the development of anxiety among pre-service mathematics teachers. As such, data collected on the factors that influence anxiety among pre-service teachers align to the research purpose and question in the sense that both the purpose and the research question sought to provide evidence on the need to modify anxiety-causing factors for better outcomes in classroom instruction.

Data analysis Techniques used in the Study

There 21 pre-service mathematics teachers who took part in the experimental group while 22 pre-service mathematics teachers formed the control group. Due to the small sample size, normality tests were done. The Shapiro-Wik test, which is usually done for studies with fewer than 50 observations, was done. An analysis of the Shapiro-Wiks for the MATAS (a scale developed by the same author in an earlier study) was done for the experimental and control groups. Results indicated that the participants were normally distributed.

The data used in the study were responses from the sample pre-service teachers for both the experimental and control groups. MATAS was then administered to the experimental and control groups. Data obtained after the administration of MATAS was analyzed using One-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) because of the existence of pre-test differences between the experimental group and the control group. This was aimed at yielding more accurate comparisons after the pretests. The pre-service teachers teaching anxiety before and after the expanded microteaching were computed and the ANCOVA-adjusted results compared between the two groups.

Discussion of the Results of the Study

The research question for the study was to find out as to whether the new concept of expanded microteaching reduces teaching anxiety among pre-service mathematics teachers. The results from the comparisons of the experimental group and the control group showed significant differences when measured against the MATAS. The results indicated a change in the teaching anxiety among the participants between the period before the microteaching expanded exercise and after the expanded microteaching exercise. From both the experimental and control groups, the author noted, there was a decrease in anxiety levels of the participants. The researcher also pointed out that the mean score for anxiety levels for the experimental group was lower compared to the control group. However, these changes in anxiety, the author noted, were more pronounced among the teachers in the experimental group than those that participated in the control experiment.

Credibility of the Study

The study sought to find out whether expanded microteaching reduces anxiety among pre-service mathematics teachers. The conclusion from the study is that, indeed, expanded microteaching reduces anxiety among pre-service school teachers. This conclusion is credible because of the research approach used to obtain data for analysis. The researcher employed groups of pre-service teachers: one group was subjected to a traditional way of teaching a practicum course while the other group was subjected to expanded microteaching. The outcome, as indicated above, showed a statistically significant variation in anxiety. This variation is what informs the reader that anxiety reduced among the pre-service mathematics teachers who were subjected to expanded microteaching conditions. This conclusion tallies with the research question.

The circumstances of evaluation to which the participants were subjected to represented real classroom situations. These conditions give the participant a real exposure to the classroom environment. This kind of exposure makes the responses on the MATAS scale more reliable as opposed to scenarios where classroom settings are simulated. In other words, data was not tortured until it confessed.

Ethical Issues

There is respect for anonymity of both the participants and the school in which the research took place. Since the author's academic and institutional affiliation has been recorded, it provides an avenue for addressing issues of related to the research.

References

Peker, M. (2009). The use of expanded microteaching for reducing preservice teachers' teaching anxiety about mathematics. Scientific Research and Essays, 4(9), 872-880.