Evaluation of the Educational Effect of Teacher Training in Universities

Focusing on the Perceptions of Teachers

Abstract

　 The purpose of this research is to investigate the process of evaluation by teachers of the educational effect of teacher training in universities within their college experiences and the situation of the schools they are currently working.

　 With this purpose in mind, the concept of “educational effect” in this research is defined as follows. Firstly, educational effect as expressed in statistical terms is a concept based on evaluative recognition by teachers. Secondly, this study discusses the reality of educational effect as defined on the basis of teachers’ subjective judgment, mainly by using a questionnaire investigation. In addition to that, the results of an interview investigation are also analyzed. In short, the overall image of the evaluation of educational effect is shown by the results of the questionnaire investigation, while the specific circumstances of individual recognition are examined by means of the interview investigation.

　 As a result of the questionnaire investigation, it is clear that teachers’ college experiences and their present situation may function as factors regulating their evaluation of educational effect. Moreover, the results of the interview investigation show that, when teachers have occupational experiences which remind them of their college study, they recognize the relationship between their training studies in universities and their present jobs. In addition, it is suggested that teachers do not emphasize differences from their college courses in the context of their school-based experiences as a teacher.

　 Recently, the measurement of educational effect has become a huge issue for college assessment. As one of the methods of the measurement of educational effect by means of a graduate survey, this study suggests the necessity of describing the mechanism whereby educational effect is assessed by the individual perceptions of research participants shaped through their workplace context.