Design and Development of an Online Video Enhanced Case-Based Learning Environment for Teacher Education

Abstract

People generally prefer to use stories in order to provide context when expressing a point. Spreading a message without context is unlikely to be meaningful. Like stories, cases have contextual meaning and allow learners to see a situation from multiple perspectives. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate how to design and develop an authentic, online case-based learning environment to provide preservice teachers with the opportunity to practice their skills in real-life situations.  The study employed an action research method, a form of qualitative approach.  32 pre-service teachers participated in an online, video-enhanced, case-based learning environment known as VOCABLE. Three action research cycles were conducted and at the end of each cycle, data were gathered through interviews and questionnaires. The qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive and content analysis techniques using Nvivo8 qualitative data analysis tool. The results indicated that six main factors contributed to the authenticity of the cases: commonness, providing different perspectives, filling emotion, holding experience, reflecting social facts and being multimedia. Almost all pre-service teachers (96%) agreed that getting experts’ solutions was very helpful. They also emphasized the value of peer evaluation and online discussion.

Keywords: Online Learning, Action Research, Case-based Learning, Teacher Education