Open Access

Tom Schep

• Universities typically offer video-based courses and internships to prepare prospective teachers for classroom management. Empirical studies have shown the effectiveness of analyzing video clips in programs for teacher training. However, no empirical studies have explored the relationship between the teaching experience of prospective teachers and the effectivity of video-based courses on classroom management. The research question was: How can classroom management competency be effectively conveyed in video-based courses regarding the differences in practical experiences of prospective teachers. Theory on cognitive load and situated learning suggests that prospective teachers with teaching experience could benefit more from a situated instructional strategy, whereas prospective teachers without this experience benefit more from a cognitive instructional strategy. The sample consisted of a total of 87 prospective teachers belonging to a first cohort that had participated in an internship and a second cohort that had not yet participated. Participants of both cohorts were randomly assigned to a course following one of the two instructional strategies. A video test was designed to assess classroom management competence. Additionally, measurements of prospective teachers’ attentiveness and their self-efficacy at the start of the internship were included. The study showed a significant main effect between pretest and posttest. However, neither a significant difference in the effectiveness between the two instructional strategies nor between the two cohorts was found (first order). Also, the effectiveness of the instructional strategy was not influenced by the availability of teaching experience (second order). Scores on the video test were not significantly related to prospective teachers’ attentiveness. The prospective teachers that participated in the course before participation in the internship rated their own classroom management significantly lower than the prospective teachers that participated in the course after participating in their internship. These results firstly indicate that there was no significant difference in cognitive load between the groups, implying that both instructional strategies are suitable for the conveying of classroom management competence within universities. Secondly, the current study has found no evidence that the trait of attentiveness influences prospective teachers’ performance within video tests. Thirdly, these results give reason to believe that the valid assessment of self-efficacy on classroom management depends on the degree of familiarity with the topic, for example, through previous dealings within video-based courses. The limited reliability of the new video test should be taken into account when interpreting the results of the current study.