The Effect of Microteaching, Directive, and Non-Directive Lectures on Achievement and Attitudes in a Basic Educational Psychology Course

A study of three teaching methods used in an educational psychology course was designed to observe the effects of each method and each combination of methods on the students' teaching skill and attitude toward educational psychology and microteaching. Three methods were manipulated: lectures on general technical skills related to teaching (Directive Lectures, DL), lectures on interpersonal relationships (Non-directive Lectures, NDL), and participation in multiple microteaching sessions (MT). All combinations of the three were used in a 2 x 2 x 2 factoral design. Subjects were 87 undergraduates enrolled in an educational psychology class randomly split into eight experimental treatments. Data was collected from student responses to a 56-item course evaluation form and from peer evaluations of each subject's teaching skill in the final MT session using the Stanford Teacher Competence Appraisal Guide (STCAG). A three-way analysis of variance was used. Major findings: The MT and DL treatments were each effective in improving teaching skills while the NDL treatment did not affect skills. Attitudes were more favorable as a result of each of the lecture methods, less favorable as a result of the MT. The best treatment for both good teaching skills and positive attitude appears to be a combination of one MT experience with DL. However, a combination of all three methods is most likely to produce positive attitudes toward the course. (JS)