The Impact of A Cognitive Flexibility Hypermedia System on Pre- service Teachers’ Sense of Self-Efficacy

by Edmunds, Doug

The field of teacher education, like other professional programs such as library science

and business administration, constitutes an ill-structured domain wherein students often

struggle to apply basic kinds of knowledge acquired in the classroom to complex and

disparate real world cases. Traditional pre-service education programs often fail to

prepare students adequately for what they will encounter in their jobs. This study

examines the relative benefits of employing a hypermedia system based on the principles

of Cognitive Flexibility Theory (CFT) to improve outcomes in pre-service teacher

education. The experimental group was exposed to the CFT-based system, while the

control group instead participated in a field experience. The study’s findings suggest that

inclusion of CFT-based instructional tools, while improving students’ sense of self-

efficacy as teachers, does not result in major gains when compared with field experience.

While limited in focus the study lends itself well to broader applicability within other

professional domains.