Tsevegjav

Analysis of Democratic Pedagogy in an Undergraduate Elementary Science Course in Mongolia

Pagmasuren Tsevegjav, Mongolian State University of Education, School of Mathematics and Sciences, Ullaanbaatar, Mongolia

Abstract:

Teacher action research plays a prominent role in affecting quality teaching and instilling democratic classroom pedagogy. The purpose of this action research was to investigate the effectiveness of a learner-centered teaching learning model for elementary science pre service teachers. In this study 108 students in elementary science pre-service classrooms were involved. Data was obtained from teacher observations of the students’ teaching, pre- and post-essays concerning each student teacher’s philosophy of effective lesson planning and implementation, and a final questionnaire to assess satisfaction with the teaching-learning model that emphasized a more learner centered approach. Because of more participation in the learning process by the student teachers, the teacher educators observed improvement of the planning, organizing, and analyzing skills of students for classroom processes and satisfaction with the learner-centered pedagogy by the student teachers. The results from this study indicate that the democratic student-centered teaching learning model is effective in developing pre-service teacher educators’ classroom practices. Based on the findings the next cycle of action research will investigate further changes for instructional materials based on participatory pedagogy that involves active learning in which students are involved in experiences that focus on constructing new knowledge and understanding.

Keywords:

action research, learner-centered teaching learning model, pre-service teacher educator, effective lesson planning, satisfaction with the pedagogy