Teaching Preschool: an Evaluation of Laboratory School Courses

Presentation given at the SoTL Commons Conference. This study assessed the impact of laboratory teaching courses on knowledge and skill attainment among student teachers at the Georgia Southern Child Development Center. Previously, faculty relied on course evaluations, tests, written assignments, and anecdotal evidence from graduates to assess student learning outcomes. Our purpose was to provide evidence that laboratory teaching courses enhance undergraduate education by providing students with hands-on experiences with children in a supervised setting. A pre-post design was used to administer a 17 item questionnaire to students in CHFD 2135 and CHFD 4131 in the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters. Questions addressed topics and skills identified in the course outlines, syllabi, and course curriculums. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two clearly identifiable domains – Knowledge and Skill - with strong psychometric properties. Hypothesis testing supported significant pre-post differences in knowledge and skill attainment that were consistent with course objectives