Effect of post‐organizers on preservice teachers' content knowledge and understanding of effective teaching behaviors

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 2 types of post‐organizers on undergraduate students' content knowledge and understanding of effective teaching behaviors. Students enrolled in the same methods course were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental post‐organizer group. The control and experimental students attended all class sessions together and received the same instruction for the first 130 minutes of class. The control and experimental students were then separated for the last 15 minutes of each class session. The control group participated in post‐organizers that involved review of the content taught during class. The experimental group participated in post‐organizers that involved review of the effective teaching behaviors that were modeled during class. No significant difference between the groups was noted regarding content knowledge, but a significant difference was found between the groups related to understanding effective teaching behaviors. Implications for college level instruction are discussed.

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