Video Didactics
Leading team:
- Prof. Lehavi Yaron,
- Prof. Emeritus Eylon Bat Sheva
- Ami Baram
Project team:
- Dr. Avi Marzel
- Dr. Ruth Segal
- Dr. Roni Mualem
- Dr. Amnon Hazan,
- Dr. Zvi Aricha
- Ms. Nitza Sion
- Dr. David Feichelfeld
Brief
The Video-didactics (“Vidactics” for short) program is designed to train physics and mathematics teachers in moderating an inquisitive, exploratory, non-judgmental peer discourse (“a Vidactic discourse”) with their colleagues. The discourse is based on authentic videos taken by the teachers in their own classes. The program was initially launched in 2014 at the Kerem Institute for Teachers’ Training in Jerusalem. In 2016, it was transferred to the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute, where most of its development and implementation took place. About 1170 teachers participated in training sessions of whom about 900 took part in supplementary 10-30-hour education programs. Two websites have been developed specifically for the program: One containing newly developed pertinent materials, and the other designed to support the moderators of the Vidactics training sessions.
The discourse developed in the program is an inquisitive, exploratory, non-judgmental one. It was designed to increase the participants’ awareness of various interrelations between their own teaching and the actual knowledge of the pedagogic content they use in making teaching decisions. One participant presents video documentation from a lesson and the others analyze anecdotes from it together; this leads to group learning of general issues related to the teaching of physics and mathematics. The Vidactics discourse is not feedback-oriented, nor is it designed to impart knowledge – rather, it is based on the constructivist approach in education, where the learners (in this case the teacher) constructs and develops their own knowledge. When employing Vidactics discourse, the mentors take part in the professional development of their peers, applying their expertise to the joint exploration of the act of teaching. The discourse involves pairs or groups of teachers with similar or diverse status.
The program and its principles have been presented in several international conferences and publications.
Our thanks to the Eddie and Jules Trump Family Foundation and the Ministry of Education for their support of the project.
Further reading:
1. Lehavi, Y., Merzel, A., Segal, R. and Jutkowitz, R. (2021). Introducing Pedagogical Content Awareness to Model Growth in the Context of Teacher Peer Mentoring. A paper presented at the 2021 AERA VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING | APRIL 8 – 12, 2021.
2. Jutkowitz, R., Merzel, A., Segal, R. and Lehavi, Y. (2021). Curiosity-Driven Discourse as an Opportunity for Mentors’ Professional Growth as Teachers. A paper presented at the 2021 AERA VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING | APRIL 8 – 12, 2021.
3. Segal, R., Merzel, A., Lehavi, Y., and Jutkowitz, R. (2021). Heightening Teachers’ Professional Awareness in Video-Based Peer Discourse to Develop Specialized Content Knowledge. A paper presented at the 2021 AERA VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING | APRIL 8 – 12, 2021.
4. Lehavi, Y., Merzel, A., Segal, R., Baram, A., & Eylon, B. S. (2019). Using Self-video-based Discourse in Training Physics Teachers. In Concepts, Strategies and Models to Enhance Physics Teaching and Learning (pp. 159-169). Springer, Cham.
5. Merzel, A., Lehavi, Y., Segal, R., Baram A., Eylon B-S. (2018) “Elevating Physics Teachers’ Instruction Using Video-Based Didactics – A Model of Growth in Professional Awareness” Talk presented at the Conference of International Research Group on Physics Teaching (GIREP), San-Sebastian, Spain
6. Segal. R., Lehavi. Y, Merzel. A., Baram. A., Eylon. B. (2018). Using self-video-based conversation in training mathematics teacher instructors. Accepted to Research Report. In Bergqvist, E., Österholm, M., Granberg, C., & Sumpter, L. (Eds.). (2018). Proceedings of the 42nd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 4 pp. 139-146). Umeå, Sweden: PME.