A recent experimental study by Guan and Hu in southeast China investigated two approaches to improving early childhood pre-service teachers’ science teaching abilities and children’s learning outcomes:
- The Making the Most of Classroom Interactions (MMCI) course alone
- An Integrated Intervention Program (IIP) that combined MMCI with peer coaching
The MMCI course, based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) framework, consisted of four 2-hour sessions focused on effective instructional support strategies, utilizing video analysis and sharing of strategy implementations. The peer coaching is a collaborative approach which involved teachers in small groups reviewing each other’s teaching videos and providing structured feedback.
The researchers randomly assigned 87 pre-service teachers, who received standard training, to three conditions: MMCI alone (n=31), IIP (MMCI plus peer coaching, n=30), and a control group (n=26). The intervention lasted four weeks, and teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, skills, and classroom practices were measured through self-reported questionnaire, video-based test, and teaching video assessment. Researchers assessed learning outcomes for 305 children (mean age = 5.69) in these teachers’ classrooms.
The findings revealed that both MMCI and IIP significantly improved teachers’ science teaching beliefs, knowledge, instructional practices, and skills. Both approaches enhanced children’s science problem-solving skills and belief about the ease of learning science, though no significant improvements were found on science competence, science liking, or concept understanding.
Notably, the IIP group demonstrated greater gain in teachers’ teaching knowledge and children’s problem-solving abilities compared to MMCI-only group. The study highlights the importance of integrating structured training like MMCI with collaborative peer coaching to maximize pre-service teacher development and children’s learning.
Source: Guan, L., & and Hu, B. Y. (n.d.). Effects of the MMCI instructional support intervention and peer coaching on ECE pre-service teachers’ science teaching and children’s learning. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 0(0), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2025.2493653