Creativity in Action: Building Preservice Teachers’ Creative Self-Efficacy Through Lesson Design and Implementation

Objectives This study aimed to analyze the perceptual changes experienced by pre-service teachers as they derived the final products of lesson plans using generative AI, and to explore educational implications for enhancing their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Methods For this purpose, a preliminary training on the educational use of generative AI was conducted for 20 students in a teacher education course at A Education Graduate School in Seoul. Subsequently, the students explored applicable lesson design strategies for various subjects and reflected on these processes and experiences through mid-term assignments, which were then qualitatively analyzed based on the TPACK framework. Results Firstly, pre-service teachers recognized the educational utility of selecting and using generative AI tools aligned with educational objectives and confirmed their potential as tools for delivering subject content. Secondly, through experiencing the limitations of generative AI, they recognized the importance of carefully integrating technology and cultivating digital and AI literacy among teachers. It was found that their repeated and experimental approaches to lesson design contributed to the enhancement of problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Thirdly, pre-service teachers who were initially hesitant to use generative AI developed a positive perception and showed a willingness to use it more extensively in lesson design. Lastly, they were able to effectively integrate elements of generative AI and TPACK, developing new and innovative customized teaching methods and strategies suitable for each subject, and expanded their educational thinking and perspectives by experiencing lesson design cases from fellow pre-service teachers. Conclusions Teacher training institutions should develop and operate more practical curricula that include excellent examples of technology-integrated classes and practical exercises. Additionally, the curriculum should include content that simulates real issues encountered while using generative AI, and develop customized professional courses that facilitate the systematic integration of generative AI according to each major.

This study aims to enhance the competencies of English pre-service teachers in integrating technical knowledge and human-centered competency education for application in the context of middle and high school English education settings. To achieve this, it extends the traditional TPACK model to develop the HC-TPACK framework and the corresponding HC-TPACK-English model. The framework and model were designed through literature reviews and expert consultations, with the internal validity of the model secured through expert content validity assessments. The study also investigated how these pre-service English teachers incorporated both technical knowledge and human-centered competencies in their lesson designs, based on an analysis of their teaching-learning guides in classes using the model. The findings are as follows: First, the HC-TPACK model, which adds human-centered competencies to the traditional TPACK elements, is expected to help pre-service teachers adapt to future educational environments and develop innovative teaching methods. Second, the application of HC-TPACK enabled pre-service teachers to plan lessons that integrate technology in lesson design and strengthen human-centered competencies. This could be confirmed in the lesson plans of prospective English teachers. These results highlight the importance of an integrated approach to content, teaching methods, competencies, and technology utilization for teacher education program developers and educators.

This study examined how elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) constructed their pedagogical designs for inquiry-based lessons, focusing on the actions they took during the design process. Participants were PSTs enrolled in K-6 elementary social studies methods coursework focusing on the inquiry-based curriculum design model and the instructional actions needed to engage students with it. PSTs were observed during their implementation of these inquiry-based lessons. After each lesson, the PSTs reflected on their experiences and participated in interviews. The process aimed to assess how effectively they had designed their inquiry-based lessons. A final evaluation was conducted at the conclusion of the study. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach in the form of action research, the findings illustrated that, as PSTs constructed inquiry-based lessons to teach, they demonstrated three design actions in their lesson design practices aligning with expectations of their inquiries: optimizing, complying, and reframing. The design actions represented design-as-practice. The findings highlight the varied extent to which preservice K-6 teachers draw on teacher education context resources and combine them with personal resources when designing inquiry-based lessons. Different aspects of personal, curricular, and contextual resources were found to be linked to PSTs’ use of inquiry as a model to design and teach lessons.

We report about a project called “Virtual School”, developed in 2022 within a collaboration between the University of Padua in Italy and Monash University in Australia. The project involved preservice STEM teachers in the design and implementation of online lessons for secondary school students. The twofold goal was to enhance the range of training options for preservice teachers while also reducing educational disadvantage among students. In this paper we discuss the design and development of the Italian side of the project, aligned with the already existing Monash experience, although tailored for the Italian context. A group of eight preservice teachers were involved in a digital community of practice, assisted by staff from both universities and by teacher tutors from two secondary schools. Divided into two subgroups, the participants co-developed and co-taught a cycle of eight classes for each secondary school (summer revision course). To better understand the role of the Virtual School in initial teacher training, preservice teachers were involved in pre-post semi-structured online interviews designed to explore their perceptions of the different roles and competencies of online teachers. The interviews were analyzed according to the Epistemic Frame Theory. The results suggest a significant change in the group’s epistemic frames in terms of a more articulated view of the teachers’ profession, open to collaboration and innovation.

This study focused on distribution, which is emphasized as a big idea in statistics education, and aimed to draw implications for pre-service teacher education in statistics by analyzing how pre-service mathematics teachers connected meanings among the key elements of distribution during a collaborative discussion process in which they designed a lesson comparing group distributions using box plots. First, based on prior research, center, spread, and shape were set as the key elements of distribution, and after investigating the level of understanding of the pre-service teachers, small groups were formed with members of different levels of understanding. Then, each group engaged in collaborative discussions on lesson design, and the patterns of connection among the key elements of distribution revealed in the process were analyzed. As a result, the group in which the elements of distribution were actively connected showed a deepened level of understanding, while the group with limited connections among the elements also showed limited development in understanding. Based on these findings, the study presented implications for statistics education for pre-service teachers.

ABSTRACTTeachers' design of a lesson is critical for helping their students develop academically effective forms of self-regulating learning (SRL) in classrooms. Using a quasi-experimental design, the researchers integrated systematic collaborative learning from problematic and successful experiences into teachers' preparatory programs and examined how such learning was associated with preservice physics teachers' SRL-based lesson design. The participants in this study were 132 preservice physics teachers during the practicum phase of their teacher education at four major research universities. Results indicated that preservice teachers who contemplated both problematic and successful experiences developed better SRL lesson-designing skills compared to preservice teachers who contemplated only problematic experiences. This study provides a new outlook for linking collaborative learning from problematic and successful experiences as a means of nurturing teachers' SRL, as well as suggesting implications and further research avenues.

Redesigning mathematics preservice teachers’ preparation for teaching with technology: A qualitative cross-case analysis using TPACK lenses

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities and challenges of how the use of conceptual lenses can change social studies instruction for deeper learning as envisioned by the 2022 revised curriculum. To this end, preservice teachers designed and demonstrated lessons based on the theory of concept-based learning. The results showed that social studies lessons using conceptual lenses were challenging due to problems of alignment of achievement standards and conceptual lenses, difficulties in creating guiding questions and differences between lesson design and lesson implementation. However, the usefulness of conceptual lenses was found by capturing the transfer of learning in lessons and strengthening the agency of teachers and learners. The significance of this study is that it analyzed the use of ‘conceptual lens’ as a concrete way to realize a social studies classroom where synergistic thinking and transferable learning occur. This study recommends further research on '‘concepts’ that can be utilized as conceptual lenses for practical changes in social studies classrooms.

In a socially constructivist classroom, critical thinking is an important skill that teachers need to have to help them deliver lessons effectively. The use of 7E instructional design model is a well-known framework that pre-service teachers use to deliver their lessons. This study examined how pre-service teachers use critical thinking skills in 7E Instructional design lesson plans in science, which is rooted in social constructivism that emphasizes collaborative and learner-centered learning. This study utilized descriptive quantitative method, specifically frequency and weighted means following the 5-point Likert scale, then supplemented with descriptive qualitative data to verify and support the critical thinking skills in designing inquiry-based lesson plans of 162 second-year Bachelor of Elementary Education pre-service teachers. The instrument used in the study was a 35-item research-made questionnaire anchored on the 7E instructional design model that underwent validity and reliability testing, and was divided into seven sub-categories. The findings suggest that pre-service teachers generally use critical thinking skills in designing inquiry-based lesson plans. Pre-service teachers employ critical thinking by designing activities that help learners apply their new knowledge to solve problems, create new outputs, and connect to real-world situations. This study recommends that pre-service teachers' lesson plans must be examined to confirm their use of critical thinking skills, practical opportunities must be provided to them for improvement, and institutional policies must be formulated to guide them in designing lesson plans.

Fostering design-oriented collective reflection among preservice teachers through principle-based knowledge building activities

The purpose of this research is to reveal the experiences of social studies pre-service teachers regarding the web 2.0 tools they use as a Material Design lesson in Social Studies Teaching and their opinions based on these experiences. The case study design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of seven pre-service teachers who are studying in a state university Social Studies Teaching program in the spring semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The application stages of the research were carried out in 2-hour classes for six weeks within the scope of the Material Design in Social Studies Teaching course. The research data were collected at the end of face-to-face interviews with each pre-service teacher after the implementation phases were completed. The data obtained were analyzed by the content analysis method, and diagrams containing themes, sub-themes, and codes were created and presented with their frequencies. It was determined as a result of the research that the pre-service teachers preferred the applications chosen by them to produce content because of their features such as ease of use, the richness of content, being usable in the classroom, and being interesting. Regarding content creation processes, it was seen that they enjoyed preparing colorful designs, using applications, learning new information, and designing puzzles/games/digital stories. However, it was observed that they had difficulties because there were paid options in the applications, the language of the application was English, it was difficult to understand the use of the application, and not everyone had a computer. Pre-service teachers thought that the use of web 2.0 tools in social studies lessons would have positive effects on teachers, students, and educational environments they suggested that these tools should be used by all teachers, their usage licenses should be purchased by the Ministry of National Education or school administrations, schools and classrooms should be improved in terms of technological facilities and tools, and in-service training should be organized.

Purpose: This study explored how elementary preservice teachers interpret and enact the Physical Education curriculum during lesson demonstrations and critiques, focusing on emerging limitations and reflective changes. Methods: Participants were 34 preservice teachers enrolled in a “Table Tennis Skills and Teaching Methods” course at K University. Data were collected from lesson demonstrations, critique writings, observations, Q&A materials, and the researcher’s journal (2023–2025), and analyzed through inductive qualitative procedures with peer debriefing. Results: Three categories emerged: (1) limited lesson planning, characterized by insufficient curriculum understanding and uniform lesson structures; (2) limitations in lesson implementation, including inflexible progression and inconsistencies between verbal explanations and demonstrations; and (3) reflective practice through lesson critique, marked by expanded task-context understanding, greater attention to verbalizing movement, and reconceptualization of movement performance as a pedagogical resource. Conclusion: Preservice teachers’ professional competence in Physical Education developed through structured experiences of lesson design, implementation, and critique. Lesson critique functioned as a key mechanism for reconstructing curriculum understanding and instructional practice, highlighting the value of cyclical reflective processes in Teacher Education.

Online and blended learning (OBL) brings unique advantages to K-12 teachers and students. Thus, it is essential to prepare preservice teachers (PSTs) for designing effective K-12 OBL lessons in educator preparation programs (EPPs) so they can utilize OBL’s distinctive characteristics to benefit their students immediately when they have their own classrooms. The purpose of this research is to introduce the design and implementation of this topic, K-12 OBL, into the stand-alone edtech course for middle grades PSTs. This study investigates PSTs’ self-reported beliefs, technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) development, and lesson design scores. Results demonstrated that PSTs developed positive beliefs and some TPACK domains. The majority of PSTs designed blended lessons and demonstrated mastery in instructional materials, learning activities, and learner interactions, but needed to improve learning objectives, assessment and measurement, and accessibility and usability. PSTs developed positive beliefs and TPACK domains similarly despite the course modalities. Nevertheless, PSTs enrolled in the blended section had higher lesson design scores compared to their peers in the online section. Challenges, such as lack of time, depth, and content-specific knowledge, exist that prevent some preservice teachers from designing more effective lessons. The researcher argues that a technology infusion method should be used to prepare PSTs for OBL in EPPs. Practical strategies for integrating new topics into the edtech course are shared. Directions for future research on the effectiveness, challenges, and productive possibilities of coaching preservice teachers to design effective K-12 OBL lessons are also discussed.

Integrating the use of Web-based and mobile technology applications into K-12 world languages contexts requires innovative teacher preparation models. This chapter evaluates a multi-step technology integration unit that develops in pre-service teachers the skills necessary to plan and carry out learner-centered communicative instruction. Importantly, this unit also incorporates five skills for disruptive innovators. Pre-service teachers blend pedagogy, technology tools, and content in project-based learning lesson design while practicing creative-thinking skills. As student teachers learn to repurpose mobile applications for the language-learning classroom, they empower articulate digital natives and foster 21st century learning. Given technology's constant growth, teaching integration of specific apps will have limited benefits. On the other hand, teaching how to innovate and repurpose will serve student teachers for their entire career. Results of this study show growth in lesson planning, creativity, and innovation skills.

Specialized content knowledge (SCK) is a type of mathematical content knowledge specifically needed for teaching. This type of knowledge, although serving as a critical component for preservice teacher education, is often challenging to develop with preservice elementary teachers (PTs). The purpose of this study is to investigate PTs’ development of SCK for teaching fundamental mathematical ideas in a university methods course. Focusing on the case of the associative property (AP) of multiplication, the author as the course instructor identified three instructional opportunities (a formal introduction and two delayed revisits) to stress two SCK components, representations, and explanations. PTs’ learning progresses were assessed through three diagnostic tests (a pretest, a mid-term exam, and a final exam) and two prompts, which informed the upcoming lesson design. Meanwhile, the course instructor conducted ongoing reflections on PTs’ learning, which also informed the corresponding lessons. It was found that PTs initially generated abstract number sentences without reasoning about the contexts of word problems. This representational sequence indicates a symbol precedence view. When prompted for explanations, PTs focused on individual numbers rather than quantitative relationships, and they could not consistently apply the basic meaning of multiplication for reasoning. The methods course, when designed to address these issues, promoted PTs’ SCK development. At the end of the course, the majority of PTs were able to generate number sentences based on the word problem structures and provided reasonable explanations; however, the methods course also faced dilemmas due to PTs’ robust symbol precedence view and the tension between PTs’ learning and children’s learning. Very few studies have explored ways to support PTs’ knowledge growth in SCK, especially for teaching fundamental mathematical ideas. This study, by carefully documenting the successes and challenges in developing PTs’ SCK, contributes to the existing literature. Based on our findings, this study highlights the importance of stressing basic meanings so as to develop PTs’ explanation skills. Meanwhile, to develop PTs’ representation skills, university instructors should be aware of the tension between PTs’ and children’s learning as manifested by PTs’ symbol precedence view. Finally, to support PTs’ SCK growth, it is also important to emphasize the role of elementary textbooks.