Reflective Peer Feedback in the Practicum: Qualitative and Quantitative Practices

Abstract

Professional development for teacher-trainees is commonly viewed as the relationship between a university supervisor, a school mentor and the trainee. The feedback provided by more experienced practitioners is thought to enhance professional development process. On the other hand, peer-feedback can also be used as a means to facilitate teaching practices of pre-service teachers. By receiving and providing feedback, the teacher candidates can also gain a better understanding of their own learning processes. By following a triangulation mixed methods design, this study aims to investigate the peer-feedback practices of 100 pre-service English teachers. The study also examines the relationship between reflective practice and peer-feedback. For the data collection tool, an online rubric scale consisting of forty questions has been used. Data analysis procedure entailed descriptive statistics and coding of the qualitative data. The items in the rubric scale were categorized and the results obtained from quantitative data were compared with findings acquired through qualitative data. The results of the study revealed that the pre-service teachers tend to give high scores (m=4.37) for their peers; although, they provided some criticisms in their comments. The study also showed that, the most problematic areas for the participants were pronunciation of the target language, asking questions, error correction, linking previous lesson and the present one, and using audible voice. The results gained from qualitative analysis indicate that the participants also had difficulties with classroom management, nervousness and cooperation. The findings of the study suggest some fruitful implications to reinforce peer-feedback practices in pre-service teacher education.