Individual versus heterogeneous collaborative learning mediated by online teaching video cases: impact on pre-service preschool teachers' self-efficacy beliefs

Previous research has highlighted self-efficacy as a core driving belief influencing teachers' pedagogies and, ultimately, children's achievement. However, scarce research has explored how video-mediated learning activities can be organized to improve the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service preschool teachers. This study investigated the impact of two learning paradigms mediated by online teaching video cases, namely Individual Learning and Heterogeneous Collaborative Learning (partnerships of in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, and university researchers), on the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service preschool teachers. Fifty pre-service teachers from one Chinese normal college were randomly assigned to two groups. The study adopted a quasi-experimental intervention design with pre-and post-tests. Results indicated that while both groups improved their self-efficacy, participants in the Heterogeneous Collaborative Learning group showed more significant progress. Specifically, participants following the Heterogeneous Collaborative Learning mode made greater gains in the efficacy for instructional strategies and children engagement compared to the Individual Learning mode. Findings imply that providing pre-service teachers with opportunities for collaborative video analysis with in-service teachers and university researchers is a more effective way to help them develop a firm sense of self-efficacy. Teacher educators are encouraged to adopt this effective paradigm to accelerate pre-service preschool teachers' professional transition in future teacher education programs.