Reference

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY Edited By Dr. Kulwinder Pal

Remesh A. Microteaching, an efficient technique for learning effective

teaching. J Res Med Sci. 2013 Feb;18(2):158-63. PMID: 23914219; PMCID:
PMC3724377.
Abstract

Microteaching, a teacher training technique currently practiced

worldwide, provides teachers an opportunity to perk up their teaching
skills by improving the various simple tasks called teaching skills.
With the proven success among the novice and seniors, microteaching
helps to promote real-time teaching experiences. The core skills of
microteaching such as presentation and reinforcement skills help the
novice teachers to learn the art of teaching at ease and to the
maximum extent. The impact of this technique has been widely seen in
various forms of education such as health sciences, life sciences, and
other areas. The emerging changes in medical curricula by the Medical
Council of India and the role of medical teachers envisage the need of
this special training of teachers and monitoring of their skills for their
continued efficient performance at any age. The alleged limitations of
microteaching can be minimized by implementing this at the
departmental level in several sequences. The author made literature
search of research and review articles in various educational
databases, journals, and books. From the reference list of published
articles, books were also reviewed. This paper presents an outline of
the various phases of microteaching, core teaching skills,
implementation aspects, and the impact of microteaching on medical
education.

Keywords: Microteaching, medical education, teacher training,

teaching skills, teach-re teach
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INTRODUCTION

The art of teaching does not merely involve a simple transfer of

knowledge from one to other. Instead, it is a complex process that
facilitates and influences the process of learning. Quality of a teacher
is estimated on how much the students understand from his/her
teaching. The classrooms cannot be used as a learning platform for
acquiring primary teaching skills. Training of medical teachers in
specific teaching skills is a major challenge in medical education
programs. The pedagogic skill for teaching can be acquired only
through more structured and cheaper faculty training techniques.[1]
With the introduction of microteaching about five decades ago, the
lacunae of scientifically proven or effective methods to be followed in
teacher training programs has been overcome.[2]

The aim of this article is to emphasize the need for using

microteaching techniques more frequently and efficiently with
minimum available facilities. A systematic literature search of
research articles and reviews was undertaken from various
educational databases. From the reference lists of published articles,
books available were also reviewed.
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MICROTEACHING
Definition and basic concepts

Microteaching is a teacher training technique for learning teaching

skills. It employs real teaching situation for developing skills and helps
to get deeper knowledge regarding the art of teaching. This Stanford
technique involved the steps of “plan, teach, observe, re-plan, re-teach
and re-observe” and has evolved as the core component in 91% of on-
campus clinical teaching development programs, with the significant
reduction in the teaching complexities with respect to number of
students in a class, scope of content, and timeframe, etc.[3,4,5,6,7,8]
Most of the pre-service teacher education programs widely use
microteaching, and it is a proven method to attain gross improvement
in the instructional experiences.[9] Effective student teaching should
be the prime quality of a teacher. As an innovative method of
equipping teachers to be effective, skills and practices of
microteaching have been implemented.[10]
Efficient technique and effective teaching

Microteaching can be practiced with a very small lesson or a single

concept and a less number of students. It scales down the complexities
of real teaching, as immediate feedback can be sought after each
practice session.[11,12,13] The modern-day multimedia equipment
such as audio–video recording devices have a key role in the learning
process.[14]

Observing a fellow teacher and using a trial-and-error in own teaching

sessions are very common way of self-training. But, both of them have
their own demerits. On the other hand, microteaching helps in
eliminating errors and builds stronger teaching skills for the
beginners and senior teachers.[15,16,17] Microteaching increases the
self-confidence, improves the in-class teaching performances, and
develops the classroom management skills.[18,19]
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THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Microteaching in medical education

The traditional medical teaching emphasizes on the transmission of

factual knowledge and hence, the teachers are the main source of
information. But, the conventional methods of medical teacher
training are not adequate. So, the teaching objectives have now shifted
to the student centered, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely
concept.[20] Microteaching allows learning each skill to the maximum
extent as there is a chance of listening, observing, and practicing.

Implementation of microteaching in medical education

There was an increase in interests toward introducing microteaching

techniques in the Indian medical schools.[21] This training technique
provides medical teachers an excellent opportunity to improve their
teaching skills and follows the Skinners’ theory of operant
conditioning and also has a scientific basis.[22] The Medical Council of
India has also recommended training for medical teachers for their
continued, efficient performance in that capacity at any age. It is
widely accepted that the quality and competency of medical teachers
can be improved by effective medical education training programs.

Steps and requirements of microteaching

Knowledge acquisition, skill acquisition, and transfer are the three

different phases of microteaching.[23] Figure 1 describes the various
phases of microteaching. Knowledge acquisition phase is the
preparatory, pre-active phase, in which the teacher gets trained on the
skills and components of teaching through lectures, discussion,
illustration, and demonstration of the skill by the experts. In the
interactive, skill acquisition phase, the teacher plans a micro-lesson
for practicing the demonstrated skills. The colleagues and peers can
act as constructive evaluators which also enable them to modify their
own teaching-earning practices.[24] The teacher can reinforce
behaviors and skills that are necessary and extinguish that are not
needed. Ultimately, they can integrate and transfer this learned skills
from simulated teaching situation to real class room teaching.
[25] Figure 2 lists the 10 key steps of a microteaching activity.
Figure 1
Various phases involved in a microteaching activity
Figure 2
Teaching ladder-10 steps to make effective teaching

After understanding the concepts and components of each core

teaching skill, the participant should prepare a micro-lesson for each
core teaching skill, and implement one skill in each microteaching
session in a sequential manner. The setting can be done in the
department itself with minimal facilities on a weekly or monthly basis.
Adequate and appropriate constructive feedback for each skill can
encourage re-teaching and re-implementing of the skill. The feedback
data can be reused, and all the core teaching skills can be integrated in
a macro lesson and ultimately to a real classroom teaching or medical
education programs.[26,27] The entire faculty play dual role of trainee
and constructive evaluators. This also improves the evaluating skills of
teacher. Though there are possible chances of not providing proper
feedback during the initial sessions, the skilled ability to evaluate and
provide constructive feedback increases when there is an increase in
the number of sessions.[28]

Core skills applicable in clinical teaching

The core techniques involved with microteaching are based on the fact
that teaching can be analyzed and estimated using various simple
teaching tasks/skills, which are a set of behavior or acts of the teacher
that facilitates learning (directly or indirectly). During the origin of
microteaching, almost 20 teaching skills have been identified. But, it
has now increased up to 37 or even more. Listed below are some of
the important teaching skills.[29]

Lesson planning

It involves the preparation of a micro-lesson which should be

organized in a logical sequence. The content should be concise,
appropriate, relevant, and could cover the specified duration.

Presentation and explanation

This involves the skills required to explain with clarity and proper
understanding of the concepts. The components include teacher
enthusiasm, creating readiness by a beginning statement or topic
sentence, effective explanation, planned repetition, and concluding
statements or key messages with summary of explanation.

Illustrating with examples

The teacher trainee should be able to rightly explain the concept by

simple, relevant, and interesting examples to increase learners’
understanding.

Reinforcement

This skill is meant for increasing the participation of the learners in

the development of teaching process. Use of positive verbal and non-
verbal cues would be key component for this skill.

Stimulus variation

Securing and sustaining the attention of the learner is imperative for a

good teacher. The effective components of the skill are gestures,
change in speech pattern, and change in interaction style.

Probing questions

It is important to allow and encourage the fellow trainees to ask

structured questions and clarify doubts. Redirection, refocusing, and
increasing critical awareness are significant components of this skill.

Classroom management

Providing proper instructions, restricting inappropriate behavior, and

calling the learners by name are essentials of this skill.

Using audiovisual aids

The increased awareness of the audiovisual aids is important for this

skill. Adequate spacing, distinct size, proper spacing between words
and lines, and use of relevant words or phrases are the key
components for this skill.
Table 1 lists the various key skills and their individual components
involved with microteaching.[29]

Table 1
Core teaching skills
The videodisc instructional package may have significant impact on
trainee teachers’ performance in the demonstration of microteaching
skills in the class. The 22 videotapes of microteaching recorded in a
study signified the importance of how to frame the task and negotiate
the roles of teacher, student, classmate, and peer/friend.[30,31] The
skills required to think critically and effectively are the core part of a
microteaching activity.[32] Along with that, constructive feedback
from the colleagues also plays a critical role in improving the general
teaching competence.[33]
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IMPACT OF MICROTEACHING
Merits and demerits

Microteaching has a pivotal role in all medical education training

programs and contributes to a great extent to the better
understanding of teaching process and its complexities. A case study
on microteaching lesson study combining the elements of Japanese
lesson study and microteaching technique reported that the pre-and
post-lesson plans had successfully demonstrated growth in teachers’
knowledge on teaching.[34] The “teach, critique, re-teach” model in a
dental education program identified microteaching as a technique for
personality development and confidence-building of health
professionals.[35] Heyroth describes microteaching as a “scaled-down
teaching encounter designed to develop new skills and refine old
ones.”[36] In spite of experiencing anxiety, microteaching has evolved
as the proven technique in nurse education.[37] Apart from increasing
the teaching performances of 57 nursing students, the microteaching
had proven to be effective in the retention of the learned behaviors,
even 6 months after course completion.[38] Dietetic students had
reportedly high confidence levels after an intensive workshop based
on microteaching technique.[39] Another study determined the
impact of a microteaching experience on development of
performance-based skills at a pharmacy college. A microteaching
activity incorporated within a professional development seminar
series was proved to be an effective method to enhance and develop
communication, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills in
pharmacy students.[40] Microteaching helps not only in developing
skills of the novice teachers but also assists in comparing the
effectiveness of variation of one microteaching with another.[41]
Microteaching has the ability to enhance the skills of problem solving,
critical thinking, questioning, and reflective thinking. It improves
learning by realistic applications.[42] The other key benefits of this
technique included the following: Transformation of difficult topics
into learnable units, usage of advanced organizers, integration of the
lecture with applications on topics, and usage of proper questions and
pauses.[43] The role of health educators can thus be effectively
satisfied by practicing microteaching techniques.

Not just in medicine or health sciences, the microteaching concept had

worked more efficiently in teaching mathematics than the traditional
teaching techniques.[44] The utilization of expanded microteaching
activities in a mathematics teaching practical course significantly
reduced the levels of anxiety.[45] Behaviorist phenomenon of
microteaching through a Neo-Vygotskian theoretical lens, employing a
case study of two groups of prospective teachers being coached by a
professor and clinical instructor was shown by Vare Jonatha.[46] The
new microteaching model conceptualizes the teacher education
program with the advances in social learning theory and meta-
cognitive learning strategies.[47] An exploratory study by Hansford
examined the relationship between various conditions of feedback in
peer microteaching, the personality dimension dogmatism, and non-
verbal perceptiveness.[48]

Proper practice is deemed essential for teacher training programs, as

it serves trainees to gain their first teaching experience and helps to
develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes.[49] But, time remains the
major hurdle for microteaching sessions in a medical education
training programs. These results in neither all the skills are practiced
nor are all trainees given an opportunity for re-planning and re-
teaching activities. The training becomes ineffective unless the teacher
acquires the quality of effective student teaching.

The other limitations of microteaching include the following: No

emphasis on contents, skill dependency, and administrative/logistic
problems when the class size is large. This can be minimized by
implementing the activities at the departmental level in several
sequences. Extensive training programs are possible when the
teachers are well equipped with core skills. These programs can then
be effectively utilized for learning of new skills and strengthening and
elaboration of existing skills. Hence, a better understanding of the
complexities of the teaching process by the faculty is more important.

In India, microteaching technique is under-estimated and under-

utilized for various reasons. Practicing the economical, simpler
methods of microteaching would help develop better teachers for the
country.[50]
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CONCLUSION

Microteaching works as a focused instrument which helps to practice

essential teaching skills safely and effectively at any age. This paper
describes microteaching as an Efficient Learning Technique for
Effective Teaching. Learning is a change in behavior, which is brought
about by activity, training, or experiencing at any age. When the
learner is more experienced, learning becomes more effective. The
most important quality of the participants of microteaching sessions is
the ability to give and receive constructive feedback with an open
mind and achieves appropriate teaching-learning goals. In addition, it
increases self-confidence of teacher in an atmosphere of friendliness
and equanimity.
11.2 Defi nitions of Micro Teaching

Micro-teaching is an experimental and analytical method of education training through which

teacher’s teaching-skills are developed. Allen (1968) defi ned is as follows: “Micro teaching is training
related suffi x in a situation of pre-service and in-service teachers for the commercial development.
Microteaching presents a plan for teaching practice that reduces the complexities of normal
classroom and teachers receive feedback in large part for their teaching practice.” V. M. Shore defi
ned is as follow: “Micro teaching is a practice of small time, few students and of fewer teaching
practices.”

MacLeez and Unwin (1970), “The micro-teaching student teachers usually simplifi ed by the use of
television closed environment for the process of the performance-related feedback is immediately
available ..... Micro teaching is generally considered to be the nature of the study represented
complications typically abstract concept or actual reduction to practice reading the feedback process
on the basis of classroom teaching is provided”. According to D. W. Allen, “Micro-teaching is scaled
down teaching encounter in class size and class time.” According to Clift and Others, “Micro-teaching
is a training procedure which reduces the teaching situation to a simpler and more controlled
encounter achieved by limiting the practice teaching to a specifi c skill and reducing time and size.”
According to Bush, “Micro-teaching is a training procedure in which teacher prepares a lesson by
using his teaching skills carefully, interact with a small group of actual students on the basis of lesions
prepared. As a result he gets the opportunity to achieve observations on videotape.” (In the Indian
Model of Micro technology, human observers has been recommended to replace video tape.) Allen
and Ryan said that micro teaching is based on the following fi ve basic principles: (1) Micro-teaching
is the actual teaching. (2) In this teaching of the common complications class-education is reduced.
(3) Only a special task and a skill is emphasized at one time. (4) It is possible to control to exercise
procedure. (5) Feedback is provided soon. In the words of Prof. B.K. Passi “Micro-teaching is a
training technique which requires pupil-teacher to reach a single concept using a specifi ed teaching
skill to a small number of pupils in a short duration of time.” In the words of L.C. Singh “Micro-
teaching is a scaled down teaching encounter to which a teacher teaches a small unit to a group of fi
ve pupils for a small period of fi ve to twenty minutes.” Micro Teaching is by N.K Jangira and Ajit
Singh: “Micro-teaching is a training setting for the student teacher whose complexities of the normal
classroom reaching are reduced by practising one component skill at a time, limiting the content to a
single concept, reducing the class size to 5-10 pupils and reducing the content of the lesion to 5-10
minutes for teaching practice.” According to Srivastava, Singh and Roy (1978), “The meaning of the
word Micro can be a complex one because it divided into small means micro units in which teacher is
trained very carefully. Therefore, Micro is the correct word.” Grifi ths (1973) after analyzing the
various defi nitions says, “As Micro-teaching is very fl exible and adaptable process, it is not fair to
bind it in a specifi c defi nition”. Micro teaching is a developing trend under which content, teaching-
time and teachers are reduced while teaching skills of pupils teachers are very well developed. (Dr
Kulshrestha, 1979)

11.3 Assumptions of Micro Teaching

The basic assumptions of Micro teaching are—

(1) Teacher’s behaviour pattern is necessary for effective micro teaching.

(2) Motivation plays a critical role in the transformation of the expected behaviour.

(3) Teaching is a therapeutic procedure or plan. Notes

(4) Teaching-objective observation of actions is required for best training.

(5) Teachers must be given adequate opportunity to improve.

(6) Teaching process can be upgraded by improving individual’s teaching skills.

(7) Micro-teaching is a very small and simplifi ed form of teaching.

11.4 Principles of Micro Teaching

Allen and Ryan (1968) explained that micro teaching is based on the following fi ve basic principles:

(1) Micro-teaching is the actual teaching.

(2) In this type of teaching the common complications class-education is reduced.

(3) Only a special task and a skill are emphasized at one time.

(4) Exercise procedure is more controlled.

(5) Feedback is provided soon.

11.5 Micro Teaching:

An Educational Process It is a scaled down teaching technique, scaled down in terms of class size,
lession, length and teaching complexity. Micro teaching process contains the following terms—

(1) Teacher offers practical knowledge and principle of micro teaching to pupil teachers. It is known
as Introduction session.
(2) Teacher specifi cally states the teaching skills which are to be developed and interpretation of
psychological bases to pupil teacher.

(3) Teacher presents an ideal lesson on micro teaching for pupil teacher.

(4) Teacher and pupil teacher closely analyze the shortcomings and discuss the characteristics of the
ideal text and determine its learning–skills.

(5) Teacher provides pupil teacher the needed time to prepare ‘micro-lesson plan’ and assists them
personally.

(6) According to instruction, class teacher teaches micro-lesson for 5 to 15 minutes (The lesson is
recorded on a tape recorder), it is called teaching session.

(7) After teaching class teacher discusses the micro lesson with teacher in detail. Both good and bad
point viz. shortcomings and strengths of pupil teacher’s teaching skills are discussed at this time and
he is suggested to re-prepare the lesson.

(8) After this critical session, pupil-teacher changes the teaching plan according to the
recommendations and re-teach the necessary amendments. This is known as “session of re-creation
of lesson”.

(9) Thus pupil teacher teaches the re-created lesson to other students of the class. This teaching is
also recorded on tape recorder. It is called re-teaching session.

(10) Re-criticise session come after re-teaching session. The micro teaching process can be explained
as on next page