Page 40 - 2023-Jour_90-1

PSTs also believed peer feedback helped improve their performance in the
classroom. A PST reflected, “I also think that having discussions with other
classmates about what went well and what we could work on was beneficial . . .
Without having feedback from our peers, we would never know what we needed
to work on throughout field” (Student 15, Spring 2021). Receiving peer feedback
provided a multi-faceted benefit to help increase their self-efficacy.
Instructors also provided feedback during MTs as a form of Verbal Persuasion,
and PSTs reflected on how this helped build their self-efficacy, One PST noted, “I
really appreciated all of the in-depth feedback from professors and coaches . . . I
genuinely want to learn and get better so the feedback meant a lot to me and impacted
my future lesson plans greatly” (Student 13, Fall 2020). Another PST wrote, “I liked
that multiple professors observed us teach. I enjoyed getting feedback the same day
that they observed me” (Student 18, Spring 2021). PSTs received targeted feedback
from multiple instructors during MTs, which offered them differing perspectives and
ideas to improve their practice. PSTs overwhelmingly identified this as a positive
influence on their self-efficacy development. This combination of targeted peer and
instructor feedback indicates the value MTs can provide in helping PSTs to reflect
intentionally upon their teaching and implement feedback to help them improve
their practice.

Discussion
This study adds to the literature on the role that MTs can play in supplementing
more traditional PST field experiences with the goal of developing highly qualified
teachers who will remain in the field of teaching long term. MTs provide a unique
opportunity for PSTs to connect theory to practice in targeted ways, which can help
PSTs reflect on their own practice, identifying evidence-based teaching practices
and finding effective ways to implement them in the classroom. Understanding the
ways in which MTs can influence the self-efficacy development of PSTs can help
TPPs maximize these learning opportunities to facilitate the advancement of PSTs’
competence and teaching praxis.
In our initial investigation into MTs as a supplement to more traditional field
experiences (Jakopovic et al., 2021), we hypothesized the types of structures that
would support effective implementation of MTs after analyzing data from the Fall
2020 semester. In this study, we expanded our analysis to include data from Spring
2021 and confirmed that, despite reducing the number of MTs conducted during
the 6-week field experience, participants still reported experiencing self-efficacy
development along all four sources (Bandura, 1997). Additionally, we noted that
the sources of Mastery Experiences and Verbal Persuasion remained the most often
cited by PSTs in their reflections on the MT experience. This led us to posit further
that providing structured opportunities for peers to offer feedback and ensuring a
small PST-to-instructor ratio exists in the MT-presentation groups can maintain the
integrity of the experience in developing these sources. In other words, quality of the
set up and implementation of the MT matters more than engaging in a large quantity
of engineered teaching opportunities.

Implications for Teacher Preparation Programs
This study can help to inform the work of other TPP professionals as they plan
for opportunities to maximize PSTs’ self-efficacy development. We provide several

38 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators