Microteaching: An Introspective Case Study with Middle School Teachers in New York City Public Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential impacts of microteaching on experienced teachers
participating in the Community Enterprise for Restoration Science (CCERS) Teaching Fellowship at Pace University
as part of a National Science Foundation-funded research project on the education model known as the Curriculum and
Community Enterprise for Restoration Science (CCERS). The program builds a learning community of teachers in the
fellowship program as they participated in monthly workshops in cohorts and continuously interact with each other
during the two years of the program. Each teacher in Cohort 1 of the CCERS Fellowship was required to provide a brief
lesson that they have used in the classrooms from the CCERS curriculum. Generally, the Teaching Fellows’
micro-lessons contained appropriate objectives presented to the class aligned well to the objectives of the CCERS
initiative, which focused on harbor restoration learning within a STEM context. By conducting field studies at
restoration stations that students set up near their schools, students across all schools learned about the biology,
chemistry, ecology and history of the Hudson River. In addition to teaching science content, all teachers incorporated
lessons on helping students to develop literacy strategies to build vocabulary. The microteaching modules allowed for
teachers to gain insight as to how the curriculum was being implemented into other teachers’ classrooms. It permitted
for teachers’ exposure to the various teaching methods and resources being used to assist underrepresented students
and students where English is a second language.