Complete or faded double-content examples of video-based analyses: How do they impact student teachers’ professional vision of classroom management?

Professional vision (PV) enables teachers to act competently in classrooms through cognitive processes of noticing, reasoning, and generating alternatives of action. Expert features of applying concepts, focusing on students, drawing inferences, and taking multiple perspectives are also considered a part of PV. PV can be fostered with video-based analyses, for which student teachers need instructional support. Instructional principles from cognitive load theory, specifically the use of double-content examples, can inform the design of video-based analyses. Double-content examples of video-based analyses that include complete or faded instructional prompts and explanations could help student teachers self-explain indicators of PV from the examples and apply them to their video-based analyses. Hence, the study investigates whether studying complete or faded double-content examples before video-based analysis enhances student teachers’ PV and whether they can effectively self-explain double-content examples. A total of N = 410 student teachers were enrolled in online self-study seminars where they analyzed classroom videos. Two intervention groups studied either with complete or faded double-content examples, whereas a control group did not study double-content examples. In pre-post-tests, cognitive processes and expert features of PV were measured. Additionally, student teachers’ self-explanations from the faded double-content examples were assessed. Results indicate that double-content examples hindered noticing and reasoning and applying concepts and had no effect on other cognitive processes and expert features. Complete and faded double-content examples had no differential impact on PV. Student teachers struggled to self-explain PV indicators from the faded double-content examples and to transfer them to their video-based analyses.