Comparative study of quality learning teams in initial and in-service teacher education

This paper is based on research conducted at the Technical Teachers Training College, Dhaka, Bangladesh and at the Hong Kong Institute of Education with students in pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes. The students ranged in age from their early twenties to early fifties and for the majority learning in a second language was problematic at best and disastrous for some. The objective was to positively motivate students as they were introduced to membership of ‘Quality Learning Teams’ during their study of education and engineering modules. The ‘Team’ philosophy involved taking the students from the traditional lecture style used extensively in both countries to active participative classes were quality learning is largely in the hands of the students themselves. For many the ‘Team’ philosophy helped students gain a much-enhanced appreciation of the topics under discussion. As in the ‘jigsaw’ approach to classroom teaching each member of the team learnt a specific point or skill, they then assisted in the learning of their team members so that all gradually became familiar with the topics / skills given to that team. The jigsaw approach was also encouraged when each team was required to present their topic to the rest of the class. At the completion of the modules under study the students were surveyed and interviewed to provide data of the impact on their learning of the ‘team’ innovation introduced by their lecturers. Traditional methods in both Bangladesh and Hong Kong settings seldom involve teaming or quality cooperative learning. The approach was particularly helpful for those whose elective was science, mathematics, design & technology, home economics, computer literacy and a number of engineering disciplines. Copyright © 1998 Hong Kong Institute of Education.