Am I Getting Better at This?: Quantifying the Cognitive Components of Learning to Teach

As preservice teachers' teaching skills develop, does their perceptual acuity also increase? This study aims to quantify the development of teaching skills, perceptual acuity, and self-efficacy in undergraduate music education (MUED) majors throughout their teacher preparation program. We seek to analyze perception and accomplishment of proximal instructional goals through the framework of rehearsal frames: small units of teacher-learner interactions to accomplish small proximal goals during the course of a singular lesson. Participants (N = 4) are MUED students in their third year of a teacher preparation program in which degree coursework begins freshman year. Participants selected a teaching video from their freshman year that they had previously analyzed for teacher-learner interactions and re-coded the video using Scribe6 software (Duke, 2026). Researchers compared participants' original and current Scribe6 analyses of the video to assess growth in perceptual acuity of teacher-learner interactions. Participants also responded to a survey about self-efficacy for teaching (Delelinger et al., 2008) before and after re-analyzing their old video to assess the effect of viewing an old video on participants' confidence in their own teaching abilities.

Methods

Participants: Participants (N = 4) are instrumental music education students in their third year of a teacher preparation program where degree coursework begins freshman year. Eligible participants must have been enrolled in MUS 231 (Brass Methods) as a freshman and must have had access to their partner-teach video assignments during data collection. Participants were recruited through email.

Procedure: Participants provided a previously-analyzed lesson video from their freshman year, which they had coded for teacher-learner interactions during their semester in MUS 231. They then completed a Google Form survey about self-efficacy for teaching (Dellinger et al., 2008). Following the survey, participants re-analyzed their video using Scribe 6 (Duke, 2026) for teacher-learner interactions. This analysis followed the same coding template as their initial analysis from their freshman year. Upon completion of the Scribe coding, participants were asked verbal follow-up questions regarding their feelings about their own teaching abilities. The verbal follow-up question data was collected through Otter.ai. Participants then provided current teaching videos for comparative analysis.

Data Analysis: We compared participants’ original and current Scribe analyses of their old video to assess growth in perceptual acuity of teacher-learner interactions. We also assessed the effect of analyzing an old video on participants’ teaching self-efficacy survey responses. We then compared rehearsal frames and teaching strategies present within first- and third-year teaching videos to assess for changes in teaching efficiency.

Results

During participants’ first viewing of their videos during freshman year, they identified approximately 6 codes per minute. During participants’ recent re-viewing of their videos, they identified approximately 8 codes per minute. On average, participants coded significantly more teacher-learner interactions per minute during coding round 2 re-analysis of their freshman year videos than during coding round 1. On average, participants noticed an increase in each individual category of teacher-learner interactions in 9 out of 10 teacher-learner interaction categories. By noticing significantly more teacher-learner interactions during coding round 2, participants demonstrated increased perceptual acuity since their original freshman year coding. Increased perception of nuanced teacher-learner interactions reflects a more detailed understanding of the behaviors that effect change in learners. This understanding of teacher-learner interactions can be generalized to the ways in which teachers intentionally carry out interactions throughout instruction. This reciprocal relationship suggests that, as participants’ perception of teacher-learner interactions increases, so does their teaching effectiveness.

Prior to re-watching their old video, participants ranked their confidence in eight categories of teaching, with a response of 4 indicating high confidence and 1 indicating no confidence. Participants expressed high levels of confidence for each category before viewing their old teaching video. The participants all attributed this confidence to teaching opportunities gained through field experience and coursework. When asked if they would change any of their answers as a result of viewing their old video, two participants stated that they would change only 1-2 answers by moving them up into the next highest category. Participants all expressed verbal enjoyment of the video review process and stated that it highlighted their growth as a teacher. While participants did not substaintially change their responses as a result of viewing their freshman year video, they had already entered the procedure with high levels of confidence due to experience teaching with reflective practices. Since all participants expressed enjoyment in seeing how they had developed as teachers since their first year, long-term video review may be a beneficial practice to incorporate into teacher preparation curriculum.

When comparing first- and third-year teaching videos, we observed significant qualitative changes in teaching behaviors between first year and third year teaching videos. We were unable to make direct comparisons between videos due to dissimilar contexts and lesson content, but these observable shifts were present across participants and demonstrate a deeper understanding of teacher-learner interactions.

Figure 1 displays mean responses for a teaching self-efficacy survey (Dellinger et al., 2008), adapted to align with music education. Overall, all participants expressed consistently high levels of confidence, which they attributed to teaching opportunities in field experience and coursework. When asked if they would change any answers after watching their old video, two participants stated that they would increase only one or two answers.

Figure 2 notes qualitative changes in teaching behaviors between first year and third year teaching videos. We were unable to make direct comparisons between videos due to dissimilar contexts and lesson content, but these observable shifts were present across participants and demonstrate a deeper understanding of teacher-learner interactions.

Figure 3 transcribes lesson events from a single rehearsal frame found within Participant 4’s teaching video. The original and recent codes are horizontally aligned with each lesson event as they occurred. During coding round 1 (2024), Participant 4 noticed 6 teacher or student behaviors. During coding round 2 (2026), Participant 4 noticed 16 behaviors within the same rehearsal frame. All 6 original noticed behaviors were also identified during coding round 2 and supplemented by 10 additional noticed behaviors. Of the aligned identified behaviors, only one was coded differently: a successful performance trial was re-labeled as an unsuccessful one.

Graph displaying the mean number of behaviors identified per minute within the framework of each teacher-learner interaction code (directive, information, modeling, negative feedback, positive feedback, question, successful performance trial, unsuccessful performance trial, student verabalization, and off-task).

Figure 4 compares the mean number of behaviors identified per viewing within the 10 teacher or student behavior categories. Overall, participants noticed an increase in 9 out of 10 teacher or student behavior categories. The largest percentage increases were found in information, modeling, positive feedback.

Graph contrasting the behaviors identified per minute by each participant between coding session 1 and coding session 2.

Figure 5 compares the number of behaviors noticed per minute between coding round 1 (2024) and coding round 2 (2026). Comparing behaviors noticed per minute allows for an even comparison across videos of different lengths. Participants coded significantly more teacher-learner interactions per minute during their coding round 2 re-analysis than during coding round 1, F (1, 78) = 5.55, p = 0.021, η2 = 0.05, d = 0.53.

Graph displaying participants' mean self-efficacy survey responses prior to watching their old video.

Discussion

Participants demonstrated increased perceptual acuity following their original freshman year coding by noticing significantly more teacher-learner interactions during coding round 2. Increased perception of nuanced teacher-learner interactions reflects a more detailed understanding of behaviors that effect change in learners. As teachers better identify and understand teacher-learner interactions, they can implement teaching strategies more effectively, intentionally, and successfully during rehearsals. The relationship between improved perception and improved teaching skills is supported by the changes observed between first- and third-year teaching videos. These findings suggest a reciprocal relationship in which participants’ teaching effectiveness improves alongside their perception of teacher-learner interactions.

This measured increase in perceptual acuity, and observed increase in teaching skills, is certainly a result of experience gained over time. Participants accumulated dozens of hours of teaching experience between coding round 1 and coding round 2 through coursework, field experience, and work experience. Participants also completed many reflective video reviews throughout their coursework that were specifically designed to develop awareness to teacher-learner interactions.

Although participants' noticing of momentary behaviors increased tremendously, rehearsal frame transcripts highlight that participants still did not notice every teacher-learner interaction within their videos. We assessed changes in perception but did not assess accuracy. Participants are still pre-service teachers, and they will likely continue to improve their understanding of teacher-learner interactions as they gain more experience effecting change in learners.

Participants entered this procedure with already-high levels of self-efficacy, and they therefore did not substantially change their survey responses following the re-viewing of their freshman year video. Nevertheless, all participants expressed enjoyment in seeing how they had grown since their first year in the teacher preparation program, suggesting that long-term reflective video review may be a useful practice for emerging educators.

Recommendations for future studies include intentional planning for longitudinal video collection to ensure comparable contexts for quantitative video analysis. Researchers could also consider a similar study design that includes skill development during participants' first few years of in-service teaching.

References

Dellinger, A. B., Bobbett, J. J., Olivier, D. F., & Ellett, C. D. (2008). Measuring teachers’

self-efficacy beliefs: Development and use of the TEBS-Self. Teaching and Teacher

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Duke, R. A. (1994). Bringing the art of rehearsal into focus: The rehearsal frame as a model for

prescriptive analysis of rehearsal conducting. Journal of Band Research, 30(1), 78.

Duke, R. A. (2026). Scribe 6 (for observation and assessment). Austin, TX: Learning & Behavior

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Duke, R. A. (2009). Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective

Instruction. Learning and Behavior Resources. https://books.google.com/books?id

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Hamilton, L. M., & Duke, R. A. (2020). Changes in Perception Accompany the Development of

Music Performance Skills. Journal of Research in Music Education, 68(2), 175–192.

Marcum, T. D. (2017). Perceptual acuity and music teaching: Tracking teacher gaze.

http://hdl.handle.net/2152/62235

Research Compliance Protocols

This project was approved by the Miami University IRB Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects (#02446r).

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