CUHK Logo Virtual Teaching and Learning (VTL) Project

Developing a Faculty-wide Video-based Pedagogy and Assessment Framework to Enhance Reflective Video-Engagement

Integration with the University-wide Learning Management System for Virtual Teaching and Learning

Project objectives and project plans

This project is designed to improve the professional skills of students in the Faculty of Education by promoting active, multimedia learning in and out-of-class. In particular, we focus on the use of videos, in terms of virtual teaching and learning (VTL) contexts, as a viable method to engage teacher candidates (TCs) in reflective practice so as to improve their professional skills. Our project objectives include: to design a series of video modules for blended learning, a common video-based pedagogical framework with lesson templates, and strategies for assessing students’ video-based reflections across seven teacher education undergraduate programmes in the Faculty of Education. The designed video modules are meant to improve the professional skills of students across the Faculty. Furthermore, we aim to develop, implement, and evaluate a suitable pedagogical framework, i.e. the RICAP (Reflective-Interactive-Collaborative-Active-Passive) framework along with a video-portal innovation to enhance students’ online video-engagement.

Current progress

News: 2022-23 Sharing Session will take place via Zoom on August 23, 2022 (3-4pm). For more info, please contact Prof. Oi-Lam Ng at oilamn@cuhk.edu.hk

The project members have been working on creating video modules for blended learning and developing strategies to assess the TCs video-based reflections. With regards to the video modules and TCs’ video-based reflections, we have created videos of authentic classroom situations to provide the opportunities for our TCs to notice and analyze these videos in fine details. We also apply the concept of microlearning to help TCs identify and focus their thinking around significant moments found in the videos, draw connections between the specifics of classroom interactions and principles of teaching and learning, and reason about classroom events through individual and peer reflections. These implemented activities demonstrate that we are on track with our project objectives.

We have also applied the RICAP (Reflective-Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive) framework to assess TCs’ video-based reflections and their professional skills. Our initial findings indicate that the design of multiple reflective opportunities is effective in engaging TCs to relate the pedagogies and theories they have learned to their classroom practice and to look for alternative strategies to improve their teaching skills. This has been a successful process and we strive to continue to further develop TCs’ professional skills through video-based reflections. Most recently, we began investigating TCs’ self-concept and conception of peer learning during technology-mediated reflection activities.

Expected contribution

The goals of this project are aligned with the long-term visions of VTL by exploring new strategies, pedagogies, platforms and facilities. This project is expected to contribute to the University’s long-term goals by introducing new learning designs and adoption of educational technologies, supporting development of innovative pedagogy (including research in learning science), enabling mixed-mode teaching, and revise teaching plans to embrace blended learning. In particular, this project contributes to our understanding of virtual teaching and learning (VTL) in the form of video-based learning. The video-engagement portal and developed complementary frameworks for video-based pedagogy and assessment will promote active video-based VTL, reflective video-engagement, and professional noticing skills in the Faculty of Education, so as to highlight and develop students’ professional skills across different disciplines within the Faculty. Its utilization in blended learning contexts enable us to facilitate individual and collective reflective practice, and to utilize learning analytics (viewing time, numbers of annotation, quality of constructive comments and discussions) generated in LMS to inform VTL best practice.