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- All Subjects: Mentoring in education
- Creators: Carlson, David
Description
Mentor teachers have a significant impact on pre-service teachers. Unfortunately, mentors are often underprepared for their role, and thus, the potential learning from a student teaching experience is not maximized. Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University provides training to mentors who host pre-service teachers during their student teaching experience. Training is delivered in two formats: online prior to the start of the semester and face-to-face each month throughout the semester. This action research study looked at how training contributes to mentor understanding and actions in supporting teacher candidates and how mentor support impacts teacher candidate performance. The study included two mentor/teacher candidate dyads and one university site coordinator. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from a variety of sources including observations of mentor trainings, teacher candidate lessons, and coaching conversations. Additional data sources included semi-structured interviews with mentors, teacher candidates, and the site coordinator. Analysis of data found that training may contribute to mentor understanding, but other factors matter too. The data also indicated that current training is insufficient at producing all desired mentor behaviors. With respect to the ways that mentors support teacher candidates, this study found that mentors play a multifaceted role, provide ongoing feedback, and employ various strategies during coaching conversations. This study found mentors help teacher candidates see their performance through the eyes of an experienced educator. Modeling and coaching helped teacher candidates improve. This study also suggests a positive, professional relationship between mentor/mentee and certain teacher candidate characteristics such as openness to feedback facilitate learning from a mentor.
ContributorsBorden, Ryen (Author) / Carlson, David (Thesis advisor) / Barnard, Wendy (Committee member) / Rojas, Michelle (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
In an effort to better prepare K-12 students for college and career readiness, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) has created a college and career readiness system that is implemented in schools across the United States and in many international locations. Part of this system of schoolwide transformation, is the AVID Elective class, designed for students in the academic-middle. In the AVID Elective, students are supported in their efforts to attend four-year universities. A critical aspect of the AVID Elective class is the weekly implementation of AVID Tutorials, ideally led by trained college tutor/mentors.
The purpose of this action research study is to investigate support structures of AVID Tutors beyond the current tutor training system, in order to see how additional methods can contribute to continual improvement of the tutor training system. Findings from this study indicate that expanding current tutor-training practice to include a blended-learning, on-the-job model, might be beneficial for AVID Tutors and AVID Students.
Through a mixed methods action research study, both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools were employed to help understand the effect of additional tutor training supports. Interviews, tutor assignments, observations of tutorials, and pre- and post-tests provide the bulk of the data studied. Further, this study could provide critical information for key AVID stakeholders who seek to offer training to tutors in AVID.
The purpose of this action research study is to investigate support structures of AVID Tutors beyond the current tutor training system, in order to see how additional methods can contribute to continual improvement of the tutor training system. Findings from this study indicate that expanding current tutor-training practice to include a blended-learning, on-the-job model, might be beneficial for AVID Tutors and AVID Students.
Through a mixed methods action research study, both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools were employed to help understand the effect of additional tutor training supports. Interviews, tutor assignments, observations of tutorials, and pre- and post-tests provide the bulk of the data studied. Further, this study could provide critical information for key AVID stakeholders who seek to offer training to tutors in AVID.
ContributorsGarcia, Michael B (Author) / Kulinna-Hodges, Pamela (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, David (Committee member) / Johnston, Dennis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018