EAPSI: Comparing pre-service Teacher Motivation in Teacher Preparation Programs in Singapore and the United States to Improve Learning Outcomes

Arner Tracy I, Akron OH

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to create online teacher preparation courses that include the program attributes and curricula that have made the teacher preparation program at the National Institute of Education in Singapore an internationally ranked program. In collaboration with Dr. Zachary Walker, professor of Early Childhood and Special Education and expert in mobile learning, existing traditional courses will be adapted into courseware that can be completed online instead of a traditional classroom. Online courseware will include rigorous content and development of a learning community in the online environment. The researchers will identify the instructional strategies, curriculum design, and student-to- professor, student, content relationships that will increase and sustain student motivation to learn. The researchers seek to increase availability of a high-quality curriculum for teacher preparation without the constraints of the traditional higher education program. The goal of this project is to create online teacher preparation courses that include the program attributes and curricula that have made the teacher preparation program at the National Institute of Education in Singapore, ranked 10th in the world. In collaboration with Dr. Zachary Walker, professor of Early Childhood and Special Education and expert in mobile learning, the researchers will identify curriculum elements including instructional strategy, practice method, and motivational factors. These elements will be used to design rigorous, asynchronous courseware combined with strategies to develop virtual learning communities. Researchers will measure elements of student motivation; specifically, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and goal orientation. Researchers will also measure readiness for online learning, connectedness, and learning outcomes at each institution following administration of the asynchronous courseware developed during the research program. The research outcomes will increase the rigor, quality, and availability of teacher preparation courseware. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.