Exploring Expectations of the Observation of Graduate Interns

To address the challenges and in preparation for a truly online experience for the graduate internship offered by the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, project directors designed a remote observation experience in order to conduct online teaching evaluations.  In an effort to address all expectations of stakeholders in the observation process (either face-to-face or online), this project sought to examine the expectations of faculty and staff involved in the student teaching observation experience (either face-to-face or online).  Further, this project sought to refine remote observations of teacher education candidates to more effectively meet the needs of the various stakeholders in the observation process.

This study was based upon a qualitative non-experimental design in which randomly selected faculty and staff involved in the observation of student-teaching experiences were interviewed.  Interviews focused on the participant's perceptions of environmental/situational and observational factors that ensure a quality observation, perceived strengths and weaknesses of the face-to-face observation process, portential solutions to perceived weaknesses of the face-to-face observation process, familiarity with the remote observation process, perceived strengths andweaknesses of the remote observation process, and potential comfort-level with implementing the remote observation process.  Qualitative data was evaluated using the constant comparative method to determine if there were patterns in expectations of an observation experience that provided deeper insights into understanding the effectiveness of the project.  Results from this study will be used to modify the remote observation process to address learning needs of graduate interns and to improve the utility of the process for university supervisors for subsequent implementation.

This presentation provides a detailed overview of the results of the interviews examining faculty and staff expectations of a student teaching observation experience.  Presenters will discuss findings of this study, as well as potential implications and recommendations for modifications in the design and implementation of the remote observation process.