Teaching practicum is very essential in the process of learning how to teach, so it should be paid great attention by not only teacher education program designers but also implementators. The paper reports a study on the efficiency of teaching practicum which has been conducted at Public University (pseudonym) in Vietnam. The research employed qualitative approach, and semi-structured interviews were used as the instrument for the data collection. Findings reveal that the implementation of the teaching practicum did not provide student teachers with sufficient chances to develop their teaching skill efficiently. Inappropriate method of implementing the teaching practicum, loose cooperation between the university and high schools, and insufficient support are major issues that caused the teaching practicum to be ineffective. Peer mentoring and a more suitable method of implementing the internship are recommended solutions to improve the effectiveness of the teaching practicum in the English Teacher Education Program at Public University in particular and other English teacher education programs in Vietnam in general.Keywords: Educational program, peer mentoring, teacher education, teaching practicum, teaching skills, VietnamCite as: Vo, T.K.A., Pang, V., & Kean Wah, L. (2018). Teaching practicum of an English teacher education program in Vietnam: From expectations to reality. Journal of NusantaraStudies, 3(2), 32-40. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol3iss2pp32-40
To increase student knowledge and confidence regarding commonly prescribed medications by completing a series of peer teaching activities. Methods. Third-year pharmacy students (n=98) engaged in the RxReady peer teaching series. Each student was assigned a drug to learn in-depth; however, twenty-four students were randomly selected and guided to provide peer teaching regarding a single medication. Assessment methods included pre-and post-quiz and anonymous surveys about the peerteaching modality. Students also provided qualitative feedback on the series at the end of course survey. Results. Among 96 students who completed the pre-and post-quizzes, there was a mean increase of 15% (SD=11) on the post-quiz compared to the pre-quiz. Ninety-two (96%) students achieved a higher score on the post-quiz. There was no difference in mean percent change between pre-and post-quiz for students who presented in class compared versus those who did not (17% [SD=10] versus 15% [SD=11], respectively). Results indicated that student-reported confidence significantly improved across all drug knowledge categories; in each category, the median confidence score increased from 2 (somewhat confident) to 3 (moderately confident). Generally, student qualitative feedback was positive and provided suggestions to improve the content and design.
Conclusion.Peer teaching approach can assist in targeting gaps in drug knowledge and help to build learner-reported confidence.
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