A Multimedia Approach to Improve Reading Instruction of Future Teachers

Teacher education efforts must successfully prepare future teachers to implement evidence-based vocabulary practices that are effective for all students. This research is composed of two experimental studies that investigate a multimedia-based intervention, which pairs a modeling video with a Content Acquisition Podcast (i.e., video plus CAP), to teach preservice teachers how to implement an evidence-based vocabulary intervention to students at risk for or with learning disabilities and/or with language learning barriers. The video plus CAP tool was created based on theories of multimedia and cognitive learning as well as the development of automaticity of practice. In Study 1, I used a pretest-posttest-maintenance design to examine the effects of video plus CAP on preservice teachers’ (N = 101) knowledge of vocabulary instruction. In Study 2, with a posttest-only design, I investigated the effects of the tool on preservice teachers’ (N = 49) teaching ability. Preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions to learn about evidence-based vocabulary instruction; the treatment group watched a video plus CAP and the control group read an informational handout. Results indicated no significant differences between treatment groups on a test of vocabulary instruction knowledge; however, those who watched video plus CAP used significantly more teaching behaviors associated with an evidence-based vocabulary intervention during instruction than the control group. The video plus CAP tool has promising implications for teacher education as a way of bridging research to practice and improving instruction for all students.