Review by: Dommen, Jenny (2008-12-16)

This article is concerned with changing teachers' beliefs regarding technology use. Although nowadays technology has become very common in everyday life, it yet has to be embedded in the teaching practice to unfold its full potential. While access and training are no longer considered significant barriers, teachers' beliefs about technology use are thought to be potentially impedimental for the integration of technology in the teaching practice.

The aim of the study the article is based on was to investigate into the impact of a problem-based teacher training on changing pre-service teachers' beliefs about technology use and their intended teaching practices. Problem-based learning has been proposed as an effective approach for changing beliefs.

The paper reports findings from a quasi-experimental research study conducted in 2005 at a large Mid-western university in the US. Participants were three groups of the one-credit educational technology course, "Classroom Applications of Educational Technology". The study comprised two treatment groups (PBL: n=12 and n=16) and one control group (traditional teaching approach: n=20). All groups had the same instructor.

Two research questions were addressed: First, the impact of problem-based learning on teachers' beliefs regarding technology use, using pre- and post-surveys. Three subcategories were measured: pedagogical beliefs about teaching and learning, self-efficacy beliefs about technology use, and beliefs about the perceived value of computers for student learning. The second research question concerned the impact of problem-based learning on changes in the intended teaching practices, captured through lesson plans.

The study was conducted during an eight-week training (two hours per week). The PBL group was actively involved in small-group work, analyzing videos, and discussing classroom problems concerning technology use. In the control group, students reviewed different multimedia programs and evaluated them through a software evaluation. Course content was delivered mainly by the instructor. Both groups created two lesson plans.

Pre- and post-tests did not show any differences between treatment and control group. This means that compared to traditional teaching approaches (control group), the use of problem-based learning did not significantly impact pre-service teachers' beliefs regarding technology use. The second research question yielded a statistically significant result. Pre-service teachers participating in problem-based learning showed a more student-centered learning approach in their lesson plans compared to the teachers in the control group. This was especially true for their descriptions of (1) the students' role, (2) curriculum characteristics, (3) learning goals, and (4) types of technology use.

The authors discuss their findings in a reasonable and critical manner. Concerning the lack of significant results to the first research questions, the authors come up with a number of possible explanations. First, taking the sample from one and the same class may have caused sampling problems. Second, the instrument used to measure teachers' beliefs may not have been sensitive enough to capture beliefs. The authors highlight the "intrinsically difficult nature of measuring beliefs" (p. 257). A third point mentioned was the length of the study. Eight weeks might not be enough to change teachers' beliefs. Concerning the second research question, the authors critically state that the changes in intended teaching practices may only reflect surface changes. "While it is possible that the participants' lesson plans reflected their 'true' beliefs, it is also possible that they did not" (p. 257). It is likely that observations of the instructors approach to teaching and experiences with PBL activities gave students new ideas about how to conduct teaching practices.

The authors summarize their findings in reporting three ways of scaffolding belief change in teacher preparation programs: (1) building collaborative structures, (2) modeling effective technology use, and (3) reflecting upon current practices and beliefs. Student-centered approaches, such as PBL, offer a possibility to engage students in collaborative learning, and to reflect upon learning experiences and teaching practices. The authors conclude that their results provide ideas of how PBL might be used to impact teachers' intended teaching practices. While being engaged in student-centered activities, over time, intended teaching practices may impact teachers' beliefs regarding technology use and might influence their future teaching practices.

All in all, this study provides some interesting insights: Even though it remains unclear about the impact problem-based learning has on intended teaching practices, the experience with student-centered approaches seems to provide teachers with new ideas of how to conduct student-centered teaching. This highlights the effect of role models teachers have on their students. Furthermore, changing teaching practices by means of changing teachers' beliefs, seems a worthwhile attempt. On the other hand, a weakness of the study lies in the design itself. Although it seems interesting to ascertain the impact of PBL on teachers' beliefs and intended teaching practices, the comparison with traditional approaches seems rather unsuitable. Particularly because PBL in this study seems to build upon a very broad meaning of student-centered approaches, and the description of "traditional teaching approaches" remains rather vague, making it hard to really compare the two groups.