Abstract:

Research Topic:
Based on a survey from a large teacher education institution in Norway, a multi-campus university with high level of collaboration and flexible learning opportunities for both teachers and student teachers, we aim to investigate how student teachers experience studying in a Vestland-class offered by the university.

The Vestland-class is a format of study offered at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (WNUAS) that is online and flexible and where the courses are entirely or partially web-based. All courses added to the 5th semester in initial teacher education (ITE) at WNUAS are in the Vestland-class format.

In this study, we will collect experiences from student teachers who have been Vestland-class students during 2023. The goal of the study is to improve the quality of cross-campus teaching in teacher education. This paper presents student teachers’ voices and the research question that guides the study are:

How does the use of blended learning environments influence teaching presence, cognitive presence, and social presence in the training of student teachers in a multi-campus university?

Theoretical Framework:
This study builds on the theoretical heritage of Dewey’s and Vygotsky’s learning perspectives where our culture, communicative and cognitive activities are closely connected to a social and collaborative context. Drawing on three interdependent concepts: social, cognitive, and teaching presence, we use Garrison’s [1] Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and its Community of Inquiry Survey Instrument [2] to collect and analyse data.

Methodology:
Fall 2023, we invited all enrolled 5th semester student teachers (n=331) in 13 different courses in initial teacher education (ITE) at WNUAS to participate in our study. A survey using a five-point Likert scale structured in accordance with the three presences (social, cognitive, and teaching presence) from the CoI framework was distributed to all student teachers through SurveyXact. Participation in the study was voluntary. This article is based on preliminary analysis of the survey.

Expected findings:
We expect to find that size and subject matter manifest differently in digital and hybrid learning contexts. We will also not be surprised to find that student teachers experience social presence having greater complexity and is more demanding in digital settings than in physical settings. The project is to be considered as a study that will contribute to a better knowledge base about how student teachers experience the teachers' digital didactic performance, with a deeper insight into students' cognition, interpersonal communication, and academic achievements - when an ITE-course goes digital.

References:
[1] D.R. Garrison, E-learning in the 21st century: A Community of Inquiry Framework for research and practice, 3 ed. London: Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2017.
[2] J.B. Arbaugh, M. Cleveland-Innes, S.R. Diaz, D.R. Garrison, P. Ice, J.C. Richardson, and K.P. Swan, “Developing a community of inquiry instrument: Testing a measure of the Community of Inquiry framework using a multi-institutional sample,” The Internet and Higher Education, vol. 11, no. 3-4, pp. 133-136, 2008. doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2008.06.003

Keywords:

Teacher education, multi-campus university, blended learning, student teachers.