Inflight Decisions of Expert and Novice Health Teachers

Inflight Decisions of Expert and Novice Health Teachers Michael J. Cleary, Shirley Groer

ABSTRACT: The interactive or “inflight” decision-making of nine expert health teachers and 10 studenl health teachers was examined over a two-year period. The method for accessing thoughts of the teachers was the stimulated recall interview which first involved making a videotape of the lesson being taught. After the lesson, the researcher played the videotape and the teachers stopped the tape whenever they could recall what they were thinking at the time. Each interview was audiotaped and responses served as data for this study. Overall, expert health teachers made more interactive decisions in the classroom across a larger number of categories. Specifically, experts remembered making significantly more decisions in the five categories of pupil, content, procedures, time, and materials. Expert health teachers also were generally more cognizant of lesson objectives, more likely to rnodiyy the lesson, and better able to connect new material to students’ prior learning. Recommendations for preservice and inservice professional development programs are offered. (J Sch Health. 1994;64(3):110-114)

uring classroom instruction, teachers process D information continuously and make numerous interactive or “inflight” decisions. Deciding whom to call upon, when to make a transition in the lesson, and how to keep students on task often occurs only as classroom events unfold. Unlike pilots who keep the plane on course and out of trouble by reading instruments that offer precise information, teachers keep the class moving by monitoring various indicators that are neither uniform nor precise. McNair’ writes:

In moving from pilot to doctor to teacher, decision-making becomes more complex in the sense that it is less prescribed and more dependent on the judgment of the individual. Training is more general and individual methods of processing information become a greater factor in what eventu- ally will be done. Recently, much interest has centered on thoughts

teachers have as well as behaviors they exhibit during teaching. By studying teacher thinking, researchers have generalized differences in the inflight decisions of expert and novice teachem2 For example, expert teachers have extensive knowledge about classroom patterns, curriculum, and students that enables them to attend only to events that merit their attention. Lacking this sense of classroom “typicality,” novices often focus on surface features of events and problems.’

Investigations into how novices acquire teaching expertise in specific subject areas has implications for designing teacher education To date, however, no studies have examined how this expertise is developed in teaching health education. To further understanding of this process, this study compared characteristics of interactive or “inflight” decisions of expert and novice health teachers in the classroom setting. Implications for professional preparation are offered.

Michael J. Cleary, EdD, CHES, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Graduate Program, Dept. of Allied Health. Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA 16057-1326; and Shirley Groer, MS, Doctoral Candidate. Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, 127 Parran Hall, 130 DeSota St., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261. This article was submitted October 8. 1993. and revised and accepted for publication February 7, 1994.

PROCEDURES Participants in this investigation were 10 student

health teachers and nine expert health teachers with whom most of the student teachers were placed. Stu- dents for this study were all school health majors whose background included more than 30 semester hours of coursework in the content areas of health. Experienced teachers were identified as “experts” by their building principals and university personnel skilled in observation methods, a selection procedure used in previous expert-novice Participation in the study was voluntary, and subjects were informed that all video and audiotaped records of their teaching would be erased after data analysis was completed.

The study was conducted in three rural, three subur- ban, and one urban school district during fall and spring semesters of 1991-1993. Data were examined using ethnographic procedures specifically designed for analysis of text-based qualitative The method for accessing thoughts of teachers in this study was the stimulated recall interview which entails making a videotape of a lesson being taught. Immediately after the lesson, the researcher and the teacher moved to a private area and played the videotaped account of the lesson. The teacher was instructed to stop the videotape whenever he or she could recall what he or she was thinking at the time. After the videotape was stopped, the researcher asked a structured series of questions to encourage recall of thoughts and concerns. Interview sessions were audiotaped and responses serve as data for the study. Student teachers were interviewed during weeks eight and 16 of their teaching semester. Expert teacher interviews were conducted at two random points throughout the entire year. Questions asked were:

1) What were you thinking at this point? 2) What did you notice that made you stop and

Probe: Was there anything the pupils were doing

3) What did you decide to do? 4) Was there anything else you thought of doing at

that point, but decided against it? 5 ) What was it? Through use of tallies, the total number of times a

particular type of concern was mentioned during an

think?

that made you stop and think?

110 Journal of School Health March 1994, Vol. 64, No. 3

interview was recorded on a coding sheet. If the teacher mentioned more than one type of concern during a stop, each type received a tally. Therefore, the number of concerns for an entire interview often was higher than the number of stops made. To ensure reliability, audio- tapes also were coded by only one researcher. Student t-tests compared average total number of concerns between expert and novice health teachers. Additional t-tests were completed examining average number of concerns within each category (pupil, content, procedures, time, and materials) between the two groups of teachers as well as number of concerns within each subcategory (learning, attitude, behavior, tasks, facts and ideas, objectives., .). Descriptions of the subcateg~riesl-~-~ follow.

Pupil Learning. Teachers’ concerns with a group’s or individual’s learning of factual information, con- cepts, or theories being presented in the lesson were placed in this category. The concern could rise from a general tendency for the student to be a slow or fast learner. One teacher commented, “I knew she had it so I decided not to discuss it any further;” another remarked, “He has a lot of trouble with sounds, so though he seemed to have the idea, I decided to drill him a little more.”

Pupil Attitude. These are concerns that touch on the more affective aspects of a student’s responses. They can be with a student’s tendency to maintain a particular attitude or with an immediate exhibition of a specific attitude. One teacher said, “This little girl is shy and very sensitive. That is why I decided to call on other students after she gave me the wrong answer, to make less of the fact that she didn’t give me the right answer.” Several teachers said, “He wasn’t paying attention so I decided to call on him.”

Pupil Behavior. Pupil behavior referred to concerns that centered on how a student acted in the classroom. Once more, these concerns could be founded on a student’s reputation for behaving or misbehaving, or they could result from the immediate situation. For instance, one teacher noted, “He is likely to poke and bother the person next to him, so I decided to put him next to me.” Or as another teacher explained, “They were more excitable than usual today, so I tried not to let them get away with anything.”

Content: Task. This category addressed concerns related to the learning activity in which the students were engaged and included such statements as “I wanted them to write their own stories, then changed my mind and had them write a group story.”

Content: Facts and Ideas. This category included times when a teacher focused on a concept the children were to obtain from the lesson. A typical example of this type of concern would be the statement, “That’s a difficult idea for kids this age, so I decided to take a little longer with it.”

Content: Objectives. This category referred to concerns with the mastery of knowledge and skills developed in the lesson. The comment, “I hadn’t thought about it, but one of the things I wanted them to be able to do was rely on themselves,” is representative of this category.

Procedure: Directions. Directions included concerns that pertained to what students were supposed to do to accomplish the task set forth in the lesson and may be as simple as: “Read pages 100-1 10 in your reader,” or as complex as an explanation of how to do a cross- word puzzle. A teacher exhibiting this concern might say, “When I gave the directions, they weren’t clear so I decided to do the first one as an example.”

Procedure: Modifications. Modifications encom- passed concerns that pertained to specific deviations from normal routine and procedures. Normal or usual is the key word here. A concern of this nature would be, “Usually I have the children take turns and answer individually, but I decided to see what would happen if I let them answer as a group.”

Procedure: Scheduling. Scheduling referred to concerns that pertained to the order in which things happened during a lesson. A lesson may include more than one activity, such as individual seatwork followed by a group reading session; or an activity may have several parts, such as a vocabulary review, a question- and-answer review of the study, and boardwork. A concern during this lesson with the order in which these occurred would fall into this category. For example, one teacher commented, “Instead of discussing the story and then doing a vocabulary lesson on the board, today I decided to do it the other way around.”

Instructional Systems. Comments related to the various approaches to instruction that involved standard textbooks, workbooks, charts, flash cards, and other teaching materials and to those materials packaged and marketed on a wide scale were included in this category. For instance, one teacher expressed, “It’s important that we work on the correct chart so I decided to go to my desk and check it,” which is typical of the decisions placed in this category.

Teacher-Developed Materials. This category included remarks that focused on materials the teacher had made, purchased, or altered to enhance a lesson - things such as a vocabulary game created by the teacher, special flash cards tailored to each individual student’s needs, or special dittoed worksheets. As an example, one teacher remarked, “I hoped that the children would like the game but I decided it was too distracting so I put it away.”

Time-Block Restrictions. Concerns that focused on accomplishing a certain amount by the end of the period in which the lesson was taking place were set in the timeblock restriction subcategory. For instance, “I wanted to finish the story by the end of the lesson so I asked fewer questions between sections.”

Pacing. Those concerns that related to pace of the lesson, that is, to the speed at which material was presented, or related to the flow of teacher questions and student response, to amount of wait time allowed, to the amount of time students were disengaged - all were placed in the pacing category. One comment illustrates this concern, “I gave them the answer myself because I felt things were moving too slowly. I was losing their attention.”

Time-Related Goals. Time-related goals referred to concerns of teachers having to do with long-range expectations for amount of material presented, number

Journal of School Health March 1994, Vol. 64, No. 3 11 1

of assignments completed, or number of pages done in a workbook. A comment typifing this type of concern was, "I skipped enrichment work today, and we worked in their workbook so it'd be done by winter vacation."

Table 1 lists frequencies of responses for each teacher. For comparative purposes, frequencies and percentages of responses for each group were averaged across the two interviews and are presented in Table 2. Mean scores and significance levels of experts and novices across all categories and subcategories are presented in Table 3.

RESULTS lnflight Decisions About Pupils. Overall, expert

health teachers remembered making significantly more interactive or inflight decisions in the classroom setting (t = -4.079, df = 17, p = .05) than novices. Expert teachers also reported significantly more decisions regarding pupil-related concerns (t = 1.914, df = 17, p = .05) including pupil attitude (t = 3.135, df = 17, p = .001). No significant differences were found between groups on the remaining subcategories of learning or behavior. In terms of percentages, experts were less concerned than novices about appropriateness of behavior (3 N o vs. 7.4%).

lnflight Decisions About Content. For both groups, content-related concerns accounted for most of the remaining inflight decisions. However, expert health teachers made significantly more decisions in this category (t=3.242, df= 17, p=.001), in addition to reporting more decisions in the subcategories of task (t = 3.464, df = 17, p = .001) and objectives (t = -2.701, df = .001, p = .001). No significant difference between groups was noted for facts and ideas.

lnflight Decisions About Procedures. Expert health teachers recalled making significantly more interactive decisions regarding procedure-related concerns (t=3.187, df= 17, p = .001) as well as the subcategories of directions (t = 2.050, df = 17, p = .05) and modifications (t = -3.258, df = 17, p = .001). No significant differences were found between groups for scheduling decisions. In terms of frequency, the entire category received

Table 1 Total Number of Concerns Mentioned Per lntervlew

ExPrt Nwke interview Interview 8 16

Teacher 1 2 Total Mean Weeks Weeks Total Mean

101 21 21 42 21.0 24 21 45 24 102 14 15 29 14.5 13 14 27 14.5 103 30 20 50 30 20 35 55 27.5 104 40 39 79 42 16 1 1 27 10.5 105 40 40 80 42 10 15 25 12.5 106 27 28 55 29.5 19 31 50 23.5 107 43 37 80 40.5 7 1 1 18 9 108 33 37 70 38 8 10 18 9 109 57 39 96 53 12 10 22 1 1

- 9 13 22 12 It0 Total 305 276 581 290.5 138 171 309 154.5 Mean 34.6 30.6 64.6 32.3 13.8 17.1 30.9 15.4 Productivity. The total number of concerns from the 18 recall interviews with expert health teachers was 581 with an average of32.3. A total ol309 concerns were coded from 20 recall interviews with novice health teachers, indicating an average of 15.4 "inflight ' I or interactive concerns being mentioned per interview.

- - -

only 13 tallies by the 10 novice teachers. lnflight Decisions About Time and Materials. In

terms of percentages, expert and novice health teachers were somewhat complementary in the general category of time (10.2% vs 8.1%). Experts still made significantly more interactive decisions in this area (t = -2.522, df = 17, p = .05) including pacing (t = -1.826, df = 17, p = .05) and time-related goals (t=-2.716, df = 17, p = .001). However, no significant difference was found between groups in the subcategory of time-block restric-

Table 2 Frequency and Percentage of Concerns Mentioned by Expert and

Novice Health Teachers (Two Lessons Combined) Expert Nwlce

Pupli: Learning Attitude Behavior

Total

content: Tasks Facts and ideas Objectives

Total

Rocrdunr: Directions Scheduling Modifications

Total

T im: Pacing Timeblock restrictions Time-related goals

Total

Mlttrkk: Instructional systems Teacher-developed

materials

f

135 79 19 233

61 69 56 186

24 5 24 53

26 19 14 59

27

23 50

-

-

-

-

% total

23.2 13.6 3.3 40.1

10.5 11.9 9.6 32.0

4.1 0.8 4.1 9.1

4.5 3.3 2.4 10.2

4.6

3.6 8.2

-

-

-

i

102 39 23 164

16 65 15 96

7 0 6

13

13 1 1 1 25

10

1 1 1

-

-

-

-

-

% total

33.0 12.6 7.4 53.1

5.2 21 .o 4.9 31.1

2.3 0.0 1.9 4.2

-

-

4.2 3.6 0.3 8.1

3.2

0.3 3.6

-

-

Sum total 581 100.0' 309 100.0'

p < .05 * * proportions rounded

TaBle 3 Mean Scores on All Categories by Group

Expert Novice Catogwy MMfl MMn 1-vllUOS p-VJlUOS

Pupll 12.9 8.2 1.914 ,0363' Learning 7.5 5.1 1.521 ,0730" Altitude 4.4 2.0 3.139 .0033" Behavior 1.1 1.2 0.180 ,4300

content 10.4 4.8 -3.242 ,0024" Task 3.4 1.6 -3.464 .0015" Facts and ideas 1.8 3.2 -0.523 ,3040 Objectives 3.2 0.8 -2.701 ,0076"

Procedunr 3.2 0.6 3.187 ,0027" Directions 1.3 0.4 2.050 .0280' Scheduling 0.3 0.1 0.000 ,5000

T i m 3.3 1.3 -2.522 .0110' Pacing 1.4 0.7 -1.826 ,0428' Timeblock restrictions 1.1 0.6 -1.371 ,0940 Timerelated goals 0.8 -2.716 ,0073"

MJtWitk 2.8 0.6 4.101 .0004" Instructional systems 1.6 0.1 -2.032 ,0290'

Modifications 1.6 0.2 -3.258 ,0023"

Teacher-developed materials 1.2 0.1 -4.083 ,0004"

Total 32.6 15.3 -4.079 .0004"

' p 4 .05 "p ,001


tions. The materials category received the fewest tallies from both groups, a finding consistent with previous literature on preservice and inservice teachers.* Regard- less, experts evidenced significantly more instructional concerns than novices in this category (t = 4.101, df = 17, p = .001) as well as in the subcategories of instructional systems (t=-2.032, df = 17, p = -05) and teacher developed materials ( t = -4.083, df = 17, p = .001).

I M PLI CAT ION S Overall, expert health teachers employed a more

complex conceptual map of the classroom, making more interactive or inflight decisions across a greater number of subcategories. Although novices made more interactive decisions as the semester progressed (Table 1)’ their cognitive schemata still were less elabor- ate and less accessible than the experts’. The primary focus of the novice health teachers on the pupil categories was not surprising as beginning teachers typically want to be sure their students are attentive as well as behaving appropriately. l o Their greater emphasis (as opposed to experts) on facts and ideas also is commen- surate with research on how novices view the importance of content mastery.lo-13 Conversely, expert health teachers were more cognizant of the overall objectives to be attained and time frames necessary to achieve these objectives.

Expert health teachers appeared better able to attend to only those classroom events relevant to instruction. Novices, however, lacked much of this functional ability to ignore occurrences that are a normal part of class- rooms. As Borko and Livingston‘ found earlier, novice teachers’ less-elaborated schemata hampers their ability to determine which information is pertinent to a pedagogical decision. Accordingly, these novices were less selective in the cues to which they responded during teaching.

The metaphor of teaching as improvisational per- formance adds to the analysis of experts’ and novices’ interactive thoughts. When improvising, a teacher begins with an outline of an instructional activity and uses an extensive repertoire of routines to fill in the details as the class unfolds.‘ When observing themselves on the videotape, expert health teachers often verbalized how their lesson would change and evolve based on the students’ responses and the overall classroom at- mosphere. Conversely, novice health teachers followed their lesson plans closely. Although minor adjustments in their lessons occurred at times, substantial modifications were unlikely to be attempted except in cases where initial lessons went poorly. This observation rein- forces Carter’s6 finding that the rich knowledge about subject matter, classroom patterns, and students that experts possess enables them to “read and flex” with the students’ cues.

The cognitive analysis presented here of the interactive or inflight decisions made indicate these student teachers are beginning to develop the more complex array of pedagogical concerns possessed by experienced and even expert teachers. For the novice, uncertainty about the most appropriate action to take in a classroom is inevitable.” Still, a natural inclination exists to

consider how a beginning health teacher can be taught to think like an expert. In light of the health challenges facing today’s y o ~ t h , ~ * ~ ~ ~ school health teacher educators are compelled to explore any feasible means to accelerate instructional expertise. Results of this two- year descriptive study suggest that school health teacher educators incorporate into coursework and field experiences interventions designed to expand the classroom cues used by beginners. Galluzzo,’ for example, recom- mends that student teachers try small-scale diversions from the planned lesson in a supervised setting. The lesson then could be videotaped and followed up with a stimulated recall procedure in which the students observe their behavior and discuss their concerns about the lesson.

To achieve the more thoughtful stance that expert teachers take toward classroom situations, participation in guided reflection and role-taking activities may be helpful. However, these adult development techniques do not “train” teachers to make certain decisions but help make explicit hidden interactive decision-making.’ Once explicit, this cognitive activity can be brought under scrutiny and developed. I‘ Specifically, novice health teachers could analyze videotapes of their teaching using the same structured series of questions utilized during the recall interviews. Interactive thoughts and concerns could be recorded in a journal for study that evening and throughout the semester. Stoiber” believes this type of self-evaluation will help develop greater awareness of relevant classroom cues and encourage flexibility in interactive decision-making rather than rote application of principles.

Novice health teachers also could assume the role of “consulting teacher.”IJ In this capacity, novices would videotape and later interview expert teachers to elicit detailed descriptions of their interactive decison-making. After working with elementary teachers, Parker’ found that role-taking activities appear to reinforce what reflection promoting activities such as keeping a journal had initiated. More recently, this form of professional development has become known as “cognitive coaching” in which the mediator (principal or another teacher) helps teachers refine their classroom decision- making by asking open-ended, nonevaluative probing questions to reveal the rationale behind the teacher’s instructional decisions. When teachers verbalize these decisions, their instructional theories become more explicit, and they are subsequently able to refine their actions. l6

Finally, two of Westerman’s* recommendations regarding specific teaching skills deserve consideration. First, novice health teachers need to constantly be re- minded of the importance of planning lessons based on prior learning of their students. This overview of the curriculum will help novices think of teaching the way experts do, as a sequence of interrelated skills rather than as discrete objectives and bits of inforrnati~n.~’ Second, novices can be directed to predict possible problems with lessons and to consider contingency plans to carry out the lesson. This practice would encourage the beginning health teacher to formulate, as do expert health teachers, lessons designed for the unpredictable events that occur in the classroom.

Journal of School Health March 1994, Vol. 64, No. 3 113

CONCLUSION Research into expert and novice cognitive processes

is not without bias. Parker' believes this line of inquiry promotes certain aspects of teachers' thinking, particu- larly interactive decision-making as central to pedagogical action. As such, the investigators involved usually conceive of teaching as a fundamentally cognitive activity while relegating teacher behaviors to a secondary status.

Despite the limitations of cognitive research, the results of this study suggest that preservice health teachers can benefit from teacher education experiences that systematically promote development of pedagogical expertise. An integrated approach consisting of guided analysis of videotaped lessons, role-taking activities, and contingency lesson planning also would have value for experienced and even expert health teachers. As Westerman* concluded, these procedures offer insights into decision-making unavailable through more tradi- tional inservice formats.

Finally, studies to determine the relationship between teachers' interactive decision-making and specific health content (drug education, contraception, AIDS) are needed. These investigations could add to development of approaches designed to improve effectiveness of both expert and novice health teachers.

References I . McNair K. Capturing in-flight decisions: Thoughts while teach-

2. Westerman DA. Expert and novice teacher decision making. J ing. Educ Res Q. 1978;3(4):26-42.

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Teach Educ. 1991;42(4):292-305. 3. Carter K. Teachers' knowledge and learning to teach. In

Houston WR, ed. Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. New York, NY: Macmillan; 1990:291-310.

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6. Carter K, Cushing K, Sabers D, Stein P, Berliner D. Expert- novice differences in perceiving and processing visual classroom information. J Teach Educ. 1988;39(3):25-31.

7. Galluvo GR. A study of student-teacher thinking. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; 1984: New Orleans, La,

8. Parker WC. Three analysis of stimulated-recall data. Presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Associa- tion; 1985; Austin, Texas.

9. Galluzzo GR, Minix NA. The in-flight decisions of student teachers. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; 1988; New Orleans, La.

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11. Floden RE, Clark EM. Preparing teachers for uncertainty. Teach Coil Rec. 1988;89:505-524.

12. National Commission on the Role of the School and Commun- ity in Improving Adolescent Health. Code Blue: Uniting for Healthier Youth. Alexandria, Va: National Association of State Boards of Education; 1990.

13. American Medical Association. Healthy Youth 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for Adoles- cents. Chicago, Ill: Dept of Adolescent Health; 1990.

14. Stoiber KC. The effect of technical and reflective preservice instruction on pedagogical reasoning and problem solving. J Teach

15. Sprinthall NA, Sprinthall LT. Career development of teachers: A cognitive development perspective. Presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association; 1981 ; Los Angeles, Calif.

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1992;43(3): 173-180.

1986;15(7):5-13.

Educe 1991;42(2): 131-139.

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Inflight Decisions of Expert and Novice Health Teachers