Supporting the development of pre-service teacher learning design capabilities

The learning design processes that groups of pre-service teachers utilise when designing technology-enhanced lessons and the development of pre-service teacher learning design capabilities during these processes are under-researched areas. This study explored how teacher educators could enhance the learning design capabilities of pre-service teachers by investigating the focuses of pre-service teacher design conversations, their design approaches, the factors supporting and/or hindering their collaborative design processes, the relationships between pre-service teachers' learning design practices and learning design artefacts, and the impact of pedagogical strategies of teacher educators upon pre-service teacher learning design practices. These issues were addressed by examining six groups of three pre-service teachers as they completed a collaborative design assignment and two bigger cohorts of pre-service teachers in two iterations in a design-based research mixed-method study. Data analysed included recordings of pre-service teachers' in-class group design conversations, online resources and discussions, Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (TPACK) self-assessments, and interview responses. Thematic analysis and Linear Mixed Model analysis were the two main approaches to analysing qualitative and quantitative data respectively. Findings, viewed through the lenses of the TPACK framework and Activity Theory, showed that pre-service teachers discussed design related issues, TPACK elements, context, and learners' characteristics in their design conversations with dominant references to design-related issues, substantial occurrences of single TPACK elements, and lower frequencies of integrated TPACK elements and context. Four design approaches were observed: content-based, top-down, learner-centred, and context-oriented. In addition, five factors were identified as enablers to pre-service teachers' learning design practices: technological capabilities, group dynamics, tutor support, pre-service teachers' past educational experience, and the teacher education program's resources and activities. The frequency of technology and context related discussions were positively and significantly correlated with the technological and contextual quality of their final learning design artefacts. As well, while changes to teacher educators' pedagogical strategies between iterations did not have a comprehensive impact on pre-service teachers' learning design processes and products, the approaches adopted by teacher educators did have a significant impact on pre-service teachers' improvement across all TPACK areas across the cohort and for each iteration. Quantitative data also revealed that practicum experience influenced pre-service teachers' development in particular areas of TPACK. Based on the findings of the study, a Design-TPACK framework together with many practical and research-related recommendations are proposed -- abstract.