Teacher and Peer Feedback in Microteaching in a Japanese University

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine whether there are any quantitative or qualitative differences between teacher and peer feedback given to student teachers’ teaching demonstrations in a Japanese university. Four student teachers performed teaching demonstrations, and their peers gave feedback by rating them and making comments in terms of five criteria: "Lesson Plan," "Teaching Techniques," "Teacher Talk," "Student and Teacher Interaction," and "Classroom Atmosphere." Similarly, four in-service teachers also gave feedback on the same student teachers’ video-recorded demonstrations. The results of the analysis revealed that: (1) compared with the peers, the in-service teachers evaluated the student teachers' demonstrations more critically, (2) especially on the "Teaching Techniques" criterion; (3) the in-service teachers’ comments were more concrete; (4) in the "Lesson Plan," "Teaching Techniques," "Teacher Talk," and "Student and Teacher Interaction" criteria, the teachers made more concrete comments, whereas except for "Teaching Techniques," the peers wrote more general comments; and (5) the in-service teachers identified problems in the pre-service teachers’ demonstrations more precisely and offered more specific solutions than the peers.