Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325

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Teaching and Teacher Education

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Research paper

Linking practice to theory in teacher education: A growth in cognitive

structures
Paul Hennissen a, b, *, Hans Beckers b, George Moerkerke c
a
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, PO 550, 6130 AN Sittard, The Netherlands
b
Fontys University of Applied Sciences, PO 550, 6130 AN Sittard, The Netherlands
c
Open University Heerlen, Netherlands, Valkenburgerweg 177, 6419 AT Heerlen, The Netherlands

h i g h l i g h t s

Pre-service teachers' cognitive schemes had grown and their conceptual knowledge had expanded.

Pre-service teachers experienced a linkage of practice to theory within the program.

A good preparation for the practicum includes sufcient, useful and enforceable assignments and suggestions.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: There are doubts about the effectiveness of teacher education regarding professional behavior of pre-
Received 8 December 2015 service teachers. Theory is part of teacher education, but is not embedded in teaching practice. This
Received in revised form research examines whether a curriculum succeeds in linking theory to preservice teachers' experiences.
23 December 2016
In this study, 136 rst year pre-service teachers carried out a case test and a card-sorting task, both before
Accepted 9 January 2017
and after a specic curriculum program. Measurements show that pre-service teachers' cognitive
schemata had grown, that their conceptual knowledge had expanded and that they experienced a
linkage of practice to theory to a reasonable degree within the program.
Keywords:
School-based
2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Curriculum
Pre-service
Theory vs. practice

1. Introduction teacher education institute, only to a limited degree in educational

Teacher education programs are often criticized (Darling-
Hammond, Holtzman, Jin Gatlin, & Vasquez Heilig, 2005),
because there are doubts concerning the quality of the teachers
who have nished the programs. Grossman (2008) states that
there is a crisis in teacher education, citing studies on the disap-
pointing impact of teacher education on the professional behavior
and the knowledge of pre-service teachers in educational practice.
Korthagen (2010) concludes that there are serious doubts about
the effectiveness of teacher education in general. Several re-
searchers attribute this problem to the gap between theory and
practice (Broekkamp & Van Hout-Wolters, 2007; Burkhardt &
Schoenfeld, 2003; Kennedy, 1997; Robinson, 1998). Pre-service
teachers apply theory, as offered in curriculum courses at the
* Corresponding author. Postbus 558, 6130 AN Sittard, The Netherlands.
E-mail addresses: paul.hennissen@zuyd.nl (P. Hennissen), h.beckers@fontys.nl
(H. Beckers), george.moerkerke@ou.nl (G. Moerkerke).
practice. Theory is part of teacher education, but it is not
embedded in teaching practice and not anchored in the actions of
pre-service teachers.
Teacher educators are trying to nd an effective way to bridge
this gap between theory and practice (Haggar & McIntyre, 2006).
Over the last decade more and more studies have emphasized the
need for unity of theory and practice and have been focusing on the
integration of theoretical and practical elements of studies (Burn &
Mutton, 2015; Grifths & Guile, 2003; Haggar & McIntyre, 2006;
Heikkinen, Tynja la
, & Kiviniemi, 2011; Tynj , 2008). Little is
ala
known about the effectiveness of programs which link practice to
theory. This research examines whether a curriculum succeeds in
bridging the gap between practice and theory by linking pre-
service teachers' experiences to practical and theoretical knowl-
edge. Practical knowledge is gained through practical experiences
concerning particular cases (Mattsson, Eilertsen, & Rorrison, 2011).
Theoretical knowledge, or conceptual knowledge, is universal,
formal and explicit in nature (Heikkinen et al., 2011).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.01.008
0742-051X/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325
1.1. A gap
Several authors refer to the gap as a classical controversy be-
tween, on the one hand, Plato's conception of rationality, epis-
teme, and, on the other hand, Aristotle's conception of practical
wisdom, phronesis (Fenstermacher, 1994; Kessels & Korthagen,
1996). Episteme is the theoretical or conceptual knowledge that
a teacher might use to analyse a situation with a set of general
assertions that apply to many different situations and problems.
Phronesis, or practical wisdom, is the knowledge that a teacher
might use to recognize features of a practice situation and act on
them in order to solve a problem. The gap in teacher education
between practice and theory is essentially a gap between these
different kinds of knowledge.
The gap between theory and practice has at least six different
causes. Firstly, teachers possess strong and complex pre-
conceptions about learning and teaching, developed over a long
period of time, which shape their perceptions of practical situations
and often do not match the theories of teacher education (Wubbels,
1992). Secondly, the type of information processing mostly focused
on by teacher educators can be described as rational or cognitive.
The impact of such an approach on the preconceptions of pre-
service teachers is low, because dealing with situations in prac-
tice elicits many feelings, concerns and conicts (Korthagen &
Wubbels, 2001). Thirdly, pre-service teachers receive information
they cannot transfer, because they lack relevant experiences. This is
a feed-forward problem. Without personal needs, or the experience
of concrete problems, pre-service teachers provide little input for
theories. Emsheimer and Ljunggren de Silva (2011) warn that the
limited experiences of pre-service teachers could make it difcult
to induce correct theoretical awareness. Fourthly, theoretical or
conceptual knowledge, by denition, is not directly applicable in
workplace situations where rapid and specic answers are needed
and little time is available (Mattsson et al., 2011). There is no xed
set of rules to apply to particular problems, because a problem is
often too particular with too many details and exceptions (Kessels
& Korthagen, 1996). Fifthly, from a sociological perspective, the
learning of pre-service teachers is strongly inuenced by socializ-
ation processes aimed at learning the existing practices at the
school. A school context may be too limited or too broad (Anderson,
Reder, & Simon, 1996) and may not match what is necessary to
bridge the gap. Sixthly, from a cognitive psychological perspective,
if theory is taught without a direct connection with teaching
practice, this will result in compartmentalization in memory
(Gagne & White, 1978), making the theories that were learned on
campus difcult to access in practice.
Practical and conceptual knowledge remain unintegrated for
many reasons and bridging the gap between them is not an easy
task.
1.2. How to bridge the gap?
Traditionally, teacher education institutes based on the Her-
bartian view of education, are trying to bridge the gap using a
deductive approach (Table 1, left column), and conceptual knowl-
edge, as starting points for the learning process (Emsheimer &
Ljunggren de Silva, 2011). Pre-service teachers are asked to inte-
grate these concepts into their behavior during the practicum.
Teacher educators often experience that theory rst, and applying
these theories in practicum later, is not very productive
(Emsheimer & Ljunggren de Silva, 2011).
Since the 1980s, teacher education institutes have tried to
develop alternative ways to bridge the gap, in particular by using an
inductive approach (Table 1, middle column), and practice experi-
ences, as starting points for the learning process of the pre-service
315
teacher (Korthagen, 2001; McIntyre & Hagger, 1992; Neapolitan,
2011). This is the so-called practicum turn in teacher education
(Mattsson et al., 2011).
There is some evidence that these alternative programs of
teacher education show promise. Research within the professional
development schools (PDS) in the US over a 25-year period
(Neapolitan, 2011) shows that PDS teachers are better qualied
than non-PDS teachers: more learner-oriented, more reective,
better prepared to handle daily problems, etc. These effects are due
to factors such as: earlier, longer, and more structured learning
experiences within practicum, an integrated curriculum (school-
based and university-based), and training of mentor teachers.
Based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative study of the
relation between program design and effects of teacher education
curricula, Brouwer and Korthagen (2005) show that transfer of
teacher education to school practice is greatly enhanced by the
extent to which theory and practice are integrated into the cur-
riculum, by the extent to which theoretical elements are perceived
by pre-service teachers as useful for practice, and by the degree of
cyclical alternation between school-based and university-based
periods in the program. In a small study among Flemish pre-
service secondary teachers studying economy, Schelfhout et al.
(2006) found that pre-service teachers did not change their
behavior when the curriculum only offered theoretical topics that
were unrelated to learning in practice. They also found that, if
teacher educators paid more attention to theoretical aspects using
an inductive approach, and started from the pre-service teachers'
experiences, the pre-service teachers were able to integrate these
theoretical aspects into their teaching practice (Schelfhout et al.,
2006).
Table 1 visualizes two important aspects of bridging the gap.
Firstly, it is important to start with the experiences in practice and
link them to theory (inductive). Secondly, it is important to learn
how to use the theory in practice (deductive).
According to Patry (2014) there can only be a relationship be-
tween theory and practice, when knowledge is integrated into the
learner's own system of subjective theories, and when decisions on
how to act are based on these subjective theories. Haggar and
McIntyre (2006) added that these subjective theories should be
under critical examination. This is what Mattsson et al. (2011)
called professional practice knowledge, knowledge that pro-
fessionals put into practice. Examples of theories concerning the
integration of knowledge are the three-level theory (Korthagen,
Kessels, Koster, Lagerwerf, & Wubbels, 2001) and the knowledge
creation theory (Nonaka & Konno, 1998).
To connect practice to theory in an inductive way, Korthagen
(2001) advocates an inductive method of training, called realistic
teacher education, which starts the learning process from concrete
experiences and from the concerns of pre-service teachers. These
concerns are the basis for a systematic way of reection, individ-
ually, and with other teachers or their supervisors. Without
reection, experiences and activities are deeply tacit, as Polanyi
(2009) already noted. Haggar and McIntyre (2006) promote start-
ing the learning process within the school. Learning to become a
teacher can be encouraged by practical theorizing, which means
looking for and using attractive ideas for practice, but also sub-
jecting these experiences and ideas to critical examination using
different kinds of criteria. Following Nonaka and Konno (1998),
knowledge is created when tacit knowledge is made explicit by
externalization. It is a process that is characterized by growing
consciousness (Eraut, 2004). On this level, people are conscious of
their actions, are able to discuss, reect (Scho n, 1983), and write
about their experiences. The knowledge on this level is called
practical knowledge (Heikkinen et al., 2011), and can be understood
by themselves and by other people.
316 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325

Table 1
Bridging the gap between Theory and Practice & the Three-level theory.

The conversion of this explicit knowledge into more conceptual
knowledge is the next step in knowledge creation and is called
combination (Nonaka & Konno, 1998). Crasborn, Hennissen,
Brouwer, Korthagen, and Bergen, 2010 hypothesised that in order
to reach the level of building conceptual knowledge deliberate
learning is a prerequisite.
1.3. A concrete solution: the three-level theory?
Teacher educators all over the world are trying to bridge the gap
between theory and practice. Several inductive teaching and
learning models aim to bridge this gap, such as: inquiry learning,
problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based
learning, discovery learning, just-in-time-teaching (Prince &
Felder, 2006), practical theorizing (Haggar & McIntyre, 2006);
research-informed clinical practice (Burn & Mutton, 2015). Some
models or theories are specic to teacher education. One of these is
a pedagogy based on the three-level theory (Korthagen et al.,
2001). This theory sees teaching as an activity that is strongly
Gestalt-driven (Korthagen, 2010) and it explains why much of the
theory, as offered at the teacher education institute, is seldom
applied in practice.
The rst level of learning, Gestalt formation, is characterized by
low or sub-conscious learning processes and is based on routines,
including tacit knowledge, feelings, role conceptions, concerns,
values and similar past experiences. Together these form a
conglomerate called Gestalt, which is triggered automatically in
situations similar to the situation in which it was acquired. Gestalt
formation happens on the level of tacit knowledge (see Table 1). For
example, a pre-service teacher may experience that there are so
many differences in talent and behavior between children that it is
almost impossible during normal classroom activities to give room
to each talent. Every time this experience is repeated she1 tends to
become uncertain and does not know what to do anymore. In any
new situation children's different behaviors and talents will trigger
the same Gestalt, the same feeling of uncertainty and
embarrassment.
The second level of learning is called schematization, and is
characterized by a more conscious and manageable use of specic
knowledge and skills. This kind of learning often occurs through the
recognition that a particular, unusual situation requires action.
During the schematization process, a more generalized mental
structure (schema) is formed, consisting of interrelated elements,
separate from the concrete experience that elicited it. Schemas are
active packets of knowledge, like procedures that represent our
knowledge about specic concepts and that we use to evaluate
1
For she and her also read he and his.
incoming information, and that inuence how we interpret events
and solve problems. Schematization happens on the level of
practical knowledge (see Table 1), knowledge that pre-service
teachers can describe explicitly. For example, when the same pre-
service teacher as before is asked to reect on her actions in the
classroom, she describes the feeling of uncertainty that is triggered
every time when differences between pupils, and the seeming
impossibility to develop each pupil's talent, become apparent. This
reection will allow the pre-service teacher to understand and
explain her typical response explicitly, and to discuss it with her
mentor teacher. Subsequently, she may approach the problem by,
for instance, organizing her activities on three levels of difculty,
rather than on thirty different levels. Her new approach will have a
positive impact on the behavior of the pupils and on her feelings of
uncertainty. So she has developed a new schema, based on the
idea that organizing and preparing classroom activities on three
levels of difculty makes sense. As stated by Clarke and
Hollingsworth (2002), the pre-service teacher develops new be-
liefs and principles about how to handle different talents and
behavior, based on the experience that pupils react positively to
new behavior. Her practical knowledge is broadened and after a
while become automatic in a new Gestalt (level reduction).
The third level of learning, theory building, refers to a logical and
consistent network of notions based on increasing connections
between schemas. This level of learning requires a high degree of
awareness. Theory building happens on the level of conceptual
knowledge (see Table 1). For example, the pre-service teacher can
relate newly-learned principles to the theory of multiple in-
telligences by Gardner (2011). This knowledge will help her
improve her skills in distinguishing differences in talents and in
designing specic instructions to develop those talents. She
consequently experiences that children learn better, and after a
while this new behavior is automated (level reduction).
So, using the principles of the three-level theory in a curriculum
will link practice and theory, and will lead pre-service teachers to
develop their practical and conceptual knowledge.
1.4. Growth of cognitive schemas
Korthagen (2010, p. 103) stated: After some time, schematized
or even theoretical knowledge can become self-evident, and the
schema or theory can then be used in a less conscious way. The
teacher can now concentrate on other things. Studies of expertise in
any domain indicate that professional growth does not only show
itself in overt behavior, but also in changes in cognitions and
cognitive schemas (e.g., Berliner, 2001; Chi, Glaser, & Farr, 1988;
Sakai & Nassarbahkt, 1997). To establish if pre-service teachers
are learning, it is important to measure changes in cognitive
schemas.
 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325
The learning process can be dened as acquiring, expanding and
reorganizing cognitive schemas (Ericsson, 2006; Feltovich, Prietula,
& Ericsson, 2006). A cognitive schema is an ordered network of
images and concepts and knowledge types (Chi, 2006). When a
person faces a certain problem, a schema will be activated in order
to solve the problem. Experts in any domain structure their
knowledge in different ways from novices. The knowledge of
novices is limited and fragmented: their cognitive schemas are
supercial, incomplete, and relationships between concepts are
weak. Experts think in an integrated network of concepts, strate-
gies and procedures (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2003). The
schemas of experts contain more information and concepts are
strongly interrelated (Hoffman & Lintern, 2006; Hoffman, 1998). As
a result, when faced with a task or problem, they are able to
respond faster and better.
So, the three-level theory contributes to learning from experi-
ences and to integrating new knowledge into cognitive schemas. It
is a process of making implicit knowledge explicit, also called
externalization (Nonaka & Konno, 1998), and of linking explicit
knowledge to other concepts and theories, called combination. To
show that pre-service teachers have developed their knowledge in
the course of the curriculum, it is important to measure to what
extent their cognitive schemas are changing.
1.5. Research question
This research examines whether a curriculum succeeds in
bridging the gap between practice and theory by linking pre-
service teachers' experiences to practical and conceptual knowl-
edge. The research questions are:
- To what extent does the program contribute to the develop-
mental use of practical and conceptual knowledge?
- To what extent do cognitive schemas of pre-service teachers
develop?
To get an answer to these questions, the program will be con-
ducted according to the principles of the three-level theory, linking
experiences to practical and conceptual knowledge.
However, since the implemented curriculum could be different
from the curriculum provided (van den Akker, 2003), a third
question examines to what extent the curriculum provided
matches the implemented curriculum from the perspective of pre-
service teachers:
- Does the offered program link experience to practical or con-
ceptual knowledge?
2. Method
2.1. Context
This study was carried out in the context of a newly-developed
four-year initial teacher education program for primary education
in the South of the Netherlands. In the rst year the program
consists of four periods of 10 weeks, with an alternation between
activities located at the university and at primary schools. Every
period consists of three ABC-weeks using a ve-step procedure
(Korthagen, 2001). During the A-week, at the university, pre-
service teachers prepare for their experience in the school from
different subject angles (Dutch, Arithmetic, Geography, Physical
education and Pedagogy) and combine this with theory appro-
priate to their preliminary knowledge. The ve steps of the pro-
cedure are: Pre-structuring, Experiencing, Structuring, Focusing,
theorizing. The rst step helps pre-service teachers to pre-
317
structure new experiences and prepares them to focus on a spe-
cic theme e.g. Room for talent. To help the pre-service teachers
to focus, teacher educators for each of the ve subjects have
formulated suggestions or assignments to be worked out during
practicum. The second step occurs when the pre-service teachers
spend the B-week at the school and experience specic aspects of
practice, such as differences between children and differences in
talents to do certain tasks. They also experience the mentor
teachers' behavior with respect to giving Room for talent and
observe the mentor teacher using of a variety of instruments, such
as: tests to measure difculties, data analysis, a plan for the whole
group of children, giving each child a specic place within the
classroom. These are often only experiences without reection;
mentor teachers often do not have the time or knowledge to
deepen these experiences. A lot of these experiences are on the
level of Gestalt formation or tacit knowledge (Table 1). Finally,
during the C-week, back at the institute, their experiences are
deepened, so that their practical experiences can be developed
into practical knowledge and can be combined with conceptual
knowledge. To reach the level of practical knowledge, steps three
to ve are needed. Step three aims at structuring their experi-
ences, step four aims at focusing on specic aspects, and these
lead to step ve: theory with the small t, in other words: practical
knowledge. This practical knowledge is acquired on the level of
schematization (Table 1) and allows pre-service teachers to anal-
yse and explain their experiences.
In order to offer pre-service teachers more background, the
teacher educators now add Theories (with capital T) from the
literature. This is conceptual knowledge on the level of theory
building (Table 1) and it allows pre-service teachers to explain their
experiences in terms of concepts and theories. For example the
differences in motivation and behavior of pupils in the classroom
may be explained in terms of the self-determination theory of Deci
and Ryan (2000). Or differences in intelligences and talents be-
tween pupils may be explained in terms of Gardner (2011) theory of
multiple intelligences.
The C-week is followed by a new A-week. At the end of each
period after three ABC-weeks there is one week for assessments.
This study was carried out during the fourth period of the rst year.
The central theme during this period was Room for talent
(working with differences in talent). The complete research plan is
presented in Table 2.
2.2. Participants and procedure
The participants were rst-year pre-service teachers during
the academic year of 2011e2012. Their ages ranged from 18 to 25.
There were two measurements: the rst measurement took place
one week before the period started and the second in the last
week (week 10) of the period. The pre-service teachers
volunteered to participate in the research after they nished a
digital exam. The results of the tests were not used to get
credits and every pre-service teacher was informed of his own
results.
In the rst measurement 136 out of 170 pre-service teachers
participated and in the second 93 out of 130. By the last period of
the rst year a number of pre-service teachers had quit their
studies, so the number of participants was lower and not every
participant completed all the instruments.
The group of expert teacher educators consisted of seven
teacher educators: six university-based and one school-based. They
were all experts in the eld of multiple intelligences with a Master
degree in Education or Psychology.
318 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325

Table 2
Research plan.
First measurement Program fourth
(1 week before period Room for
rst A-week) talent (ABC-, ABC-,
ABC-week)
Pre-service Case test (n 136)
teachers' group Card-sorting
(n 131)
Expert group
(n 7)
2.3. Instrumentation, data collection and analysis
To get an answer to the rst two research questions it is
necessary to make knowledge explicit, a process that is called
knowledge elicitation. Following Cooke (1994) this can be done
using three different methods: observations and interviews, pro-
cess tracing and conceptual techniques. A disadvantage of the rst
two methods is that they are time-consuming. Conceptual tech-
niques, on the other hand, are less time-consuming and allow data
management by multiple experts and data reduction, and provide a
more objective approach to the interpretation of large amounts of
data. In this research two conceptual techniques were used: a case
test and a card-sorting technique. A questionnaire was developed
to measure if the program succeeded in linking experience to
practical or conceptual knowledge. These three instruments were
developed during a pilot phase in the spring of 2011 with 12 pre-
service teachers of a previous year, and concerned the same
theme of Room for talent.
2.3.1. Case test
To answer the rst research question on the extent to which the
program contributes to the developmental use of practical and
conceptual knowledge, a case test was developed. The case test
measured the extent to which participants used practical and
conceptual knowledge within a concrete situation on paper. The
number of errors and misconceptions were also counted.
The case is a description of a practical situation of a pupil in
primary education, developed by an expert teacher educator in the
domain of Education/Psychology (M.Ed.) and talent development.
In this case ve questions were formulated on the theme Room for
talent: What is Room for talent?, Why is it important?, Describe
the development of the pupil within the case with what you know
from development psychology., Design an activity for the pupil, so
that he/she can reach the next level of development., Explain why
this design suits the level of development of the pupil. The total
Second time allowed for the case test was 30 min.
measurement Each key question could be answered using practical knowledge
(week 10) and conceptual knowledge, or a mixture of both. Subsequently, a
scoring instrument (Table 3) was developed for each of the ve key
Case test questions by two university-based and one school-based teacher
(n 93)
educator in order to determine how often practical knowledge and
Card-sorting
(n 93) conceptual knowledge were used in answering the case test
Questionnaire questions. If pre-service teachers failed to use relevant terminology,
(n 80) it would be scored as false. If they used relevant terminology, but
Card-sorting
applied it wrongly, it would be scored as a misconception.
The case, the questions and the scoring instrument were
developed by another university-based expert in Education and
presented to an expert school-based teacher educator to improve
the validity of the instrument. Subsequently the inter-reliability
was measured. Based on a random sample of 10 anonymous case-
answers, Cohen's Kappa between these two experts was calcu-
lated at (0.77). Almost all the experts were involved in designing
the scoring instrument and were not asked to answer the case test
again.
The number of mistakes and misconceptions, answers with
practical knowledge, and answers with conceptual knowledge
were incorporated in a frequency analysis. Descriptive statistics and
two tailed t tests for unpaired observations were calculated on the
data generated in this way in order to analyse the changes that
occurred between the rst and the second measurement.
2.3.2. Card-sorting technique
To answer the second research question on the extent to which
cognitive schemas of pre-service teachers develop, a card-sorting
technique was used with two measurements (Table 2). This is a
method where the pre-service teacher ranks concepts printed on
cards, into logical groups (Nawaz, 2012). The purpose of the card-
sorting task was to gain insight into the development of cognitive
schemas of pre-service teachers as a result of attending a program.
By comparing the group of pre-service teachers with a group of
experts, the development of cognitive schemas of the pre-service
teachers could be determined (Nievelstein, Van Gog, Boshuizen,
& Prins, 2008).
Within this study this instrument was developed by selecting
different 50 concepts from the program literature. Based on
consensus, two university-based teacher educators, experts in the
domain of talent development and with a Master Degree in Edu-
cation or Psychology, selected 30 out of 50 of the most important
concepts, focusing on practical as well as conceptual knowledge.
These 30 concepts were printed on separate cards, so that every
participant had the same set of 30 cards.

Table 3
Example scoring instrument Case test.

Question 1: What is adaptive education (AE)? Note the core in no more than three sentences.
Task: The pre-service teacher can explain in her own words the meaning of adaptive education (know).
Instructions for evaluator: Use the scoring instrument below to determine in which category the answer falls: (False, Misconception, Practical knowledge, Conceptual
knowledge).

Categories Criteria Example(s) Score

False - Incorrect terminology - AE is a form of collaborative learning.

- Answer does not t in other three categories.
Misconception - Correct terminology, not properly linked.
Practical knowledge - Shows insight into pedagogical and didactic needs of the child
and/or similarities and differences.
Conceptual knowledge - Basic human needs: competence, relatedness and autonomy
(Deci & Ryan, 2000) or link with other theory (developmental
psychology).
- AE is taking cognitive differences into account.
- AE is education adapted to the needs of the child
- AE is education adapted to the similarities and differences
between children.
- AE is education adapted to the basic needs of the child:
competence, relatedness, and autonomy.
 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325
The participants were instructed to sort the 30 concepts into
between two and 10 logical piles, based on their knowledge of the
concepts, and to note down the concepts forming each pile sepa-
rately. The time allowed for this technique was 15 min.
For each participant the data were processed in a co-occurrence
matrix (Coxon, 1982; Leydesdorff & Vaughan, 2006). A co-
occurrence matrix allows an analysis of how often any pair of
cards in a card-sort was sorted into the same group. Each cell in the
matrix codes whether two concepts were clustered or not. This
resulted in a 30  30 symmetrical matrix that consist of binary data
for each pair of concepts (0: no co-occurrence; 1: one co-
occurrence in one group). Next, per group an aggregate co-
occurrence matrix was formed by summing up the individual
matrices of the members of that group.
The matrix was analysed with a hierarchical cluster analysis
(Trochim, 1989) using nearest neighbour method and Squared
Euclidean Distance Measuring to calculate the strength of the
relationship between the concepts in the card-sorting task. Using
cluster analysis, the strength of the perceived relationships be-
tween concepts was calculated and visualized in a dendogram. In
this study the analysis resulted in three dendograms: rst and
second measurement of pre-service teachers, and measurement of
experts. An example of a part of a dendogram is showed in Fig. 1.
The dendogram of Fig. 1 shows, by way of example, how con-
cepts are clustered and how strong the consensus in the group on
this clustering is. On the vertical axis the concepts are clustered,
starting with Lesson objectives, Instruction, etc.. Each concept is
numbered (Lesson objectives is number 7). The horizontal axis
shows the degree of consensus on the clusters on a 25-point scale
from 0 (high) to 25 (low). Since cluster analysis is an explorative
analysis technique, there are no xed rules to determine the
number of relevant clusters. Selecting the number of clusters re-
quires a combination of statistical reasoning and shared judgments
on the interpretability of the clusters. In this study we follow the
comparative research approach of Nievelstein et al. (2008) to
determine clusters with high and low consensus. They used a 25-
point scale. All clusters lower or equal to 10 were identied as
clusters with high consensus. An example of high consensus in
Fig. 1 is the rst cluster of four concepts Lesson objectives, In-
struction, Curriculum, Direct instruction model. The vertical line
(highlighted with a grey oval) that links the concepts is at score 8,
and therefore this is a high-consensus cluster. In the analysis of this
study, only clusters with at least three concepts with a high
consensus were included.
2.3.3. The questionnaire
To answer the third research question on the extent to which
the program links experience to practical or conceptual knowledge,
a questionnaire was lled in. The survey was conducted after the
Fig. 1. Example of a part of a dendogram.
319
case test and the card-sorting task (n 80). The questions were
derived from the three-level theory (Korthagen et al., 2001) and
focused on (opportunities for) experiences and the development of
knowledge. Examples of questions are: There are sufcient as-
signments and suggestions for internship in the subjects-meetings
during A-weeks., In the internship (B-week) there was ample
opportunity to work out assignments or suggestions from the
subject meetings. and In subject meetings after the internship (C-
week) teacher educators used pre-service teachers' experiences to
connect to theory.
The questionnaire contained 15 statements using a 5-point
Likert scale. The response options ranged from strongly
disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). These 15 statements were
scored by the pre-service teachers for each subject of the program:
Dutch, Arithmetic, Geography, Physical education and Pedagogy;
so, in total 15  5 is 75. To test the reliability of the survey,
Cronbach's alpha was measured between the questions for each
subject: Dutch (a 0.78), Arithmetic (a 0.86), Geography
(a 0.93), Physical education (a 0.95) and Pedagogy (a 0.93).
Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data of the
questionnaire.
Descriptive statistics and two tailed t tests for paired observa-
tions were calculated on the data generated in this way in order to
analyse the changes that occurred between the subject geography
and the other four subjects.
Three further analyses were carried out aimed at further cor-
relations, comparisons and effects. Firstly, to determine to which
degree the questions in the A-week (1 through 4), B-week (5
through 8) and C-week (9 through 12) show variation, R2 was
calculated. R2 is a measure of the amount of variability in one
variable that is shared by the other (Field, 2009). The higher the
explained variance (R2) between questions, the more the variance
of one question can be attributed to variance in the other question.
The higher R2, the stronger the link between the questions.
Secondly, to be able to compare subjects, a variance analysis was
carried out (one-way ANOVA). Here Geography was used as an
independent variable and the four other subjects as dependent
variables.
Thirdly, to determine to which degree a particular question had
an effect on other questions, a one-way ANOVA was carried out
with as independent variables question 15, followed by question 2,
and as dependent variables the remaining 14 questions. Question
15 was used to determine if the degree of t between the theme,
Room for talent, and each subject inuenced the preparations of
assignments and/or the use, and the link, between theory and
school practice. Question 2 was used to determine if the prepara-
tions of assignments inuenced the use, and the link, between
theory and school practice. This was done for all subjects jointly, as
well as separately for Geography.
320 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325
3. Results
3.1. Results case test
Table 4 contains the main results concerning the rst research
question on the extent to which the program contributes to the
developmental use of practical and conceptual knowledge. The
table shows the mean and standard deviation for each category:
Errors & Misconceptions, Practical knowledge, Conceptual
knowledge. The number of errors and misconceptions after the
program (M 0.37; SD 0.69) was lower than before (M 1.68;
SD 1.54). This difference is signicant: t (226) 2.72, p 0.01. The
use of practical knowledge before the program (M 4.43;
SD 2.12) increased after the program (M 5.17; SD 1.77). This
difference is not signicant: t (226) 0.46, p 0.65. The use of
conceptual knowledge before the program (M 0.18; SD 0.56)
increased after the program (M 1.48; SD 1.2). This difference is
signicant; t (226) 2.49, p 0.01. The increase in the use of the
combination of practical and conceptual knowledge is marginally
signicant: t (226) 1.86, p 0.07.
3.2. Results card technique
Based on three dendograms, Table 5 shows the main results
concerning the second research question on the extent to which
cognitive schemas of pre-service teachers had developed.
The second column of the dendogram displays the analysis of
the results of the pre-measurement (n 131). Before the program,
there were two high-consensus clusters of at least three concepts.
Each cluster contained four concepts: Lesson objectives, Instruc-
tion, Curriculum, Direct instruction model and Attitude, Behavior,
Learning speed, Learning style.
The third column of the dendogram displays the results of the
post-measurement (n 93). After the program, six clusters with
high group-consensus of at least three concepts can be seen. The
rst cluster contains: Lesson objectives, Instruction, Curriculum,
Direct instruction model, Differentiation, Diversity, Workshop,
Collaborative learning, Methods. The second cluster: Attitude,
Behavior, Learning speed, Learning style. The third cluster: Pre-
operational, Concrete-operational, Formal operational stages. The
fourth cluster: Matching, Stretching, Celebrating. The fth cluster:
Visual-spatial, Logical-mathematical, Interpersonal, Verbal-lin-
guistic. And the sixth cluster is: Competence, Relatedness,
Autonomy.
Of the six clusters that can be seen after the program, one cluster
is exactly the same as before the program, namely the cluster:
Attitude, Behavior, Learning speed, Learning style. The cluster:
Lesson objectives, Instruction, Curriculum, Direct instruction
model was expanded with the concepts: Differentiation, Diversity,
Workshops, Collaborative learning, Methods.
The fourth column of the dendogram displays the results of the
measurement of the experts (n 7). In this column ve high-
consensus clusters of at least three concepts can be seen. The ex-
perts' rst cluster contains eight concepts: Lesson objectives,
Table 4
Reported knowledge by pre-service teachers before and after the program.
Before program After program
(n 136) (n 93)
M SD M SD
Errors & Misconceptions 1.68 1.54 0.37
Practical knowledge 4.43 2.12 5.17
Conceptual knowledge 0.18 0.56 1.48
Curriculum, Instruction, Direct instruction model, Zone of proximal
development, Workshop, Teaching methods, Collaborative
learning. The second cluster also contains eight concepts: Attitude,
Behavior, Learning speed, Learning style, Observation, Differentia-
tion, Diversity, Pupil tracking system. The third cluster contains four
concepts: Pre-operational, Concrete-operational, Formal opera-
tional phase, Cognitive. The fourth cluster contains seven concepts:
Matching, Stretching, Celebrating, Verbal linguistic, Logic mathe-
matical, Interpersonal, Visual-spatial. And the fth cluster contains
three concepts: Competence, Autonomy, Relatedness.
Table 5 shows that pre-service teachers had expanded their
concepts: before the program the pre-service teachers made two
clusters with high group consensus, whereas after the program
they made six clusters, compared to the ve clusters that the ex-
perts made. After the program, the pre-service teachers' clusters
are very similar to the ve clusters of the experts, with almost the
same concepts within the clusters.
3.3. Results questionnaire
Table 6 shows the results for the third research question on the
extent to which, in the perception of pre-service teachers, the
offered program links experience to practical or conceptual
knowledge.
In Table 6, the scores for each question for each subject and the
total score are presented. The scores show seven remarkable things.
First, comparing the subjects, the scores for the subjects: Dutch,
Arithmetic, Physical education and Pedagogy were higher than the
scores for Geography. This suggests that the process of linking
theory with experience was less effective in the Geography meet-
ings after the practice-experience than in the meetings for the
other four subjects. To test this a paired t-test was carried out which
showed signicant differences in the scores for Geography,
compared to the scores for the other subjects: Geography-Dutch t
(79) 7.31, p 0.00, Geography-Arithmetic t (79) 7.52, p 0.00,
Geography-Physical education t (79) 5.43, p 0.00,
Geography-Pedagogy t (79) 6.95, p 0.00. The other subjects
do not show such signicant differences.
Second, comparing the mean scores for Geography with the
total mean score on the 15 questions, there were differences be-
tween the questions linked to the A-week (questions 1e4), B-week
(questions 5e8) and C-week (questions 9e12). In the B-week there
was little difference between questions: question 5 (0.24), question
6 (0.18), question 7 (0.19) and question 8 (0.35). In the A-week there
were considerable differences between questions: question 1
(0.65), question 2 (0.63), question 3 (0.50) and question 4 (0.39). In
the C-week there were also considerable differences between
questions: question 9 (0.50), question 10 (0.50), question 11 (0.52)
and question 12 (0.51). So, the differences between the ve subjects
in the A-week and C-week were greater than in the B-week.
Third, the amount of variability (R2) between the four questions
of the A-week was almost the same: between questions 1 and 2
(R2 0.41), 1 and 3 (R2 0.39), 1 and 4 (R2 0.37), 2 and 3
(R2 0.41), 2 and 4 (R2 0.48), 3 and 4 (R2 0.37). The amount of
variability between the four questions of the B-week was also
almost the same: between questions 5 and 6 (R2 0.28), 5 and 7
(R2 0.22), 5 and 8 (R2 0.28), 6 and 7 (R2 0.45), 6 and 8
(R2 0.23), 7 and 8 (R2 0.15). Also the amount of variability
between the four questions of the C-week was almost the same:
between questions 9 and 10 (R2 0.53), 9 and 11 (R2 0.39), 9 and
12 (R2 0.16), 10 and 11 (R2 0.40), 10 and 12 (R2 0.26), 11 and
12 (R2 0.45). But the A-week- and C-week questions accounted
0.69 only for between 0 and 10% of the variation of the B-week ques-
1.77 tions. The A-week questions accounted for between 10 and 30% of
1.20
the variation of the C-week questions.
 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325 321

Table 5
Concept clusters with high group-consensus for pre-service teachers (before and after a program) and experts.

Concepts Pre-service teachers Experts

Before program After program
Lesson objectives X X X
Instruction X X X
Curriculum X X X
Direct instruction model X X X
Differentiation X
Diversity X
Workshop X X
Collaborative learning X X
Methods X X
Zone of proximal development X

Attitude X X X
Behavior X X X
Learning speed X X X
Learning style X X X
Observation X
Differentiation X
Diversity X
Pupil tracking system X

Pre-operational phase X X
Concrete-operational phase X X
Formal operational phase X X
Cognitive X

Matching X X
Stretching X X
Celebrating X X
Verbal linguistic X X
Logic mathematical X X
Interpersonal X X
Visual spatial X X

Competence X X
Relatedness X X
Autonomy X X
2 clusters 6 clusters 5 clusters
Note: A thick black line separates the clusters.

Fourth, based on a one-way ANOVA, there is a signicant dif-
ference between the mean scores for the subjects Geography and
Dutch (F 1,88, p < 0.05) and between Geography and Arith-
metic (F 2,0, p < 0.05). The differences in mean scores between
Pedagogy and Physical Education compared to Geography are not
signicant.
Fifth, based on a one-way ANOVA, the effect of question 15 on
the other questions was minimally 25% (e.g. question 1: F 3,479, Sig
0.00), but there was no effect on questions 6 and 7. The theme did
not inuence the behavior of the mentor teacher. This was to be
expected, seeing that mentor teachers mostly do not know the
specics of the curriculum at the teacher education institute. There
was a signicant effect of question 2 as independent variable on the
other questions, except on questions 6, 7 and 11, 13. This means that
preparation had a signicant effect on other questions, except on
the behavior of the mentor teacher (questions 6 and 7), on the link
between theory and practicum experiences (question 11), and on
the use of theory in practicum (question 13). A one-way ANOVA
analysis for Geography showed signicant effects, except on ques-
tions 6 and 7. So, the behavior of the mentor teacher was not linked
to the preparation of assignments, but the variance within all the
other questions depended on the preparation of assignments and
suggestions in the A-week.
Sixth, the lowest scores were on questions 5 and 6 about op-
portunities to work out assignments and suggestions from the
subject meetings in the school (overall M 3.32), and about the
mentor teachers' understanding (overall M 3.34) of those as-
signments and suggestions. Also, the pre-service teachers disagreed
about the degree of understanding by their mentor teachers of the
assignments and suggestions from the subject meetings (SD 1.14),
and about the internship opportunities in the school (SD 1.02).
Seventh, pre-service teachers experienced a reasonable degree
of linkage (question 14) of practice to theory (overall M 3.45), but
their experiences were different (overall SD 0.93). This may be
due to differences in how subject-teacher educators implemented
aspects of linking theory to practice in their program, and to dif-
ferences in opportunities in the workplace.
4. Conclusion and discussion
Against the background of bridging the gap between theory and
practice, this study aimed at linking pre-service teachers'
322 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325

Table 6
Fit between the program (5 subjects) and perceptions by pre-service teachers regarding linking experience to practical or conceptual knowledge (n 80).

Dutch Arithmetic Geography Physical Pedagogy Total

education

M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD

1. There are sufcient assignments and suggestions for internship in the subjects- 3.80 0.60 3.61 0.72 2.88 0.97 3.70 0.99 3.68 0.76 3.53 0.88
meetings during A-weeks.
2. These assignments and suggestions are prepared in the subject meetings. 3.30 0.88 3.46 0.80 2.73 0.91 3.74 0.99 3.59 0.82 3.36 0.95
3. These assignments or suggestions were enforceable in the internship. 3.50 0.69 3.59 0.76 2.94 0.97 3.75 1.03 3.43 0.84 3.44 0.90
4. The usefulness of working out these assignments or suggestions was clear. 3.35 0.80 3.49 0.83 3.03 0.90 3.71 0.94 3.54 0.76 3.42 0.88
5. In the internship (B-week) there was ample opportunity to work out assignments or 3.21 1.04 3.38 0.97 3.08 1.04 3.35 1.05 3.56 0.94 3.32 1.02
suggestions from the subject meetings.
6. The mentor teacher was aware of the fact that pre-service teachers should work out 3.25 1.12 3.43 1.15 3.18 1.12 3.44 1.15 3.41 1.11 3.34 1.14
assignments and suggestions from the subject meetings.
7. The mentor teacher guided me in working out these assignments or suggestions. 3.71 0.96 3.61 0.99 3.38 1.07 3.55 1.09 3.58 0.98 3.57 1.02
8. The working out of the assignments or suggestions from the subject-meeting is 3.51 0.71 3.55 0.90 3.14 0.95 3.64 0.93 3.59 0.81 3.49 0.88
useful.
9. Experiences I gained by working out these assignments or suggestions were 3.55 0.87 3.41 0.85 2.96 1.02 3.61 1.01 3.74 0.82 3.46 0.95
discussed afterwards in the next subject-meeting (C-week).
10. In subject meetings after the internship (C-week), teacher educators used pre- 3.63 0.91 3.50 0.93 2.93 1.03 3.53 1.06 3.59 0.82 3.43 0.98
service teachers' experiences to connect to theory.
11. In the subject meetings. the curriculum or theory becomes clear, because there is a 3.91 0.77 3.59 0.84 3.03 0.91 3.58 1.04 3.64 0.72 3.55 0.91
link with internship experiences.
12. The explanation of theory within the subject meetings makes it clear how I can use 3.83 0.84 3.63 0.75 3.05 0.98 3.63 1.01 3.66 0.75 3.56 0.91
the theory during the internship.
13. I used theory in the internship which was discussed during the subject meetings. 3.80 0.80 3.56 0.86 3.19 1.01 3.54 1.02 3.73 0.71 3.56 0.91
14. There was a constant interaction between the subject-meeting-content and 3.54 0.86 3.56 0.81 3.03 0.93 3.54 1.01 3.59 0.90 3.45 0.93
internship.
15. The theory of the subject meetings t into the theme Room for talent. 3.86 0.74 3.74 0.81 3.16 0.95 3.66 0.97 3.89 0.86 3.66 0.90

experiences to practical and conceptual knowledge. In answer to
the rst research question, the results from the case technique
show that pre-service teachers, when addressing practical prob-
lems, used more practical and conceptual knowledge after the
program than before. There was a statistically signicant increase in
frequency in the use of conceptual knowledge, an increase that was
stronger than the increase in frequency in the use of practical
knowledge. The numbers of errors and misconceptions showed a
statistically signicant decrease. However, in absolute terms, pre-
service teachers still used more practical knowledge than concep-
tual knowledge, before and after the program.
In answer to the second research question, the ndings point to
a cognitive development of pre-service teachers. The card-sorting
method showed the development of cognitive schemas. After the
program pre-service teachers made more clusters and almost all
concepts were clustered. Before the program, only 8 out of 30
concepts had been placed in two clusters, whereas after the pro-
gram, 26 out of 30 concepts were placed in six clusters. These re-
sults correspond with Bransford et al. (2003), who showed that the
cognitive schemas of beginners are supercial, incomplete and
have few mutual relationships. While the knowledge of novices is
limited and fragmented, the thinking of experts is characterized by
an integrated network of concepts, strategies and procedures
(Hoffman & Lintern, 2006; Hoffman, 1998). The experts in this
research made ve clusters and their schedules contained more
information and had more relationships between concepts. For
their part, the pre-service teachers' expertise showed growth,
enabling them to make more clusters than in the rst measure-
ment, and to reach a higher degree of consensus. Therefore their
cognitive schemas made a signicant progress towards the cogni-
tive schemas of experts.
In answer to the third research question, the results based on
the questionnaire show that the implemented curriculum is
reasonably consistent with the intended curriculum: there was
frequent interaction between experiences, and between practical
and conceptual knowledge. In the perception of pre-service
teachers, the program linked experience to practical or
conceptual knowledge. But there are differences between the ve
subjects: pre-service teachers are least satised with the Geogra-
phy subject meetings. The data suggest that Geography did not
prepare the pre-service teachers during the A-week (2.74), and did
not use the experiences of pre-service teachers during the C-week
(2.96), to the same extent as the other subjects did.
Based on the rst further analysis of the questionnaire, it can be
concluded that the questions within the different weeks (A-week,
B-week, C-week) are closely linked. Between the A-, B- and C-week
the differences are greater and the links are looser. The questions of
the B-week are not linked to the questions of the A-week and C-
week. This means that the weeks before and after the practicum
depend on each other, and that what is happening during the
practicum is for the greater part independent of that. The reasons
for this weak link could be: fewer opportunities in the workplace,
or mentor teachers who have their own ideas about teacher
preparation, or insufcient interaction between institute and
practicum. The institutional part of teacher education is often
separated from the practicum part (Timmermans, Poell, Klarus, &
Nieuwenhuis, 2011). As a consequence, teacher-educators are un-
familiar with the quality and opportunities in the workplace and
guidance of mentor teachers is lacking. If so, it is the mentor teacher
in the workplace who decides what pre-service teachers can do and
develop within practicum. A solution to help forge a closer link
between institute and practicum may be provided in general by
PDS partnerships (Neapolitan, 2011), and in this case school-side
preparation at the start of each 10-weeks period to both pre-
service and mentor teacher. Another solution in this case may be
to provide intensive training programs for mentor teachers and
university-based teacher educators on how to develop and realize
links between what is happening at the institute and at the
practicum.
Based on the second further analysis of the questionnaire (one-
way ANOVA), it can be concluded that the mean score of Geography
differs signicantly, compared with Dutch and Arithmetic. There
are several reasons for this mismatch. Geography is a subject with
fewer hours during the year, and the subject had just been
 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325
introduced in the fourth period, when this research was carried out,
so the teachers had aimed to give an overview of the subject Ge-
ography as science, resulting in a higher degree of abstraction,
thereby making the link with classroom practice more difcult.
Also, tting Geography lesson materials into a theme such as Room
for talent is likely to be harder than is the case with lesson mate-
rials for Dutch and Arithmetic.
Based on the third further analysis, it can be concluded that
within all subjects as well as within Geography, there was no sig-
nicant effect of question 2 on the behavior of mentor teachers
(questions 6 and 7). The preparation of assignments did not appear
to have had an effect on the behavior of mentor teachers. Since the
behavior of mentor teachers in the practicum is so separate from
that of teacher educators at the institute, it is imperative to engage
mentor teachers in other ways, e.g. by training.
5. Discussion
For pre-service teachers to develop their expertise, it is of vital
importance that the teacher educator makes explicit links between
pre-service teachers' preconceptions and their experiences, and
between experiences and further conceptual knowledge. The pre-
service teachers rated the usefulness of working out the Geogra-
phy assignments or suggestions lower, compared with the other
subjects. The pre-service teachers rated as relatively high (3.38) the
guidance by mentor teachers during the practicum (B-week) in
working out assignments or suggestions, including those of
Geography.
The high average of standard deviation (questions 5, 6 and 7)
suggests that pre-service teachers experienced a large discrepancy
within the opportunities that were available during the internship
to work out the assignments and suggestions, and within the
guidance received from their mentor teachers in working out these
assignments and suggestions.
In conclusion, this specic program, focused on linking experi-
ence to practical or conceptual knowledge, based on the principles
of the three-level theory, and elaborated with specic principles
and practices (e.g. the ve-step procedure), has contributed to the
development of pre-service teachers: pre-service teachers' sche-
mas developed towards expert schemas and pre-service teachers
used more conceptual knowledge in a specic case. However, there
was no signicant growth of practical knowledge. In general, the
program was conducted as designed, but there are differences be-
tween subjects and between teacher educators in general.
The development of teachers' practical and conceptual knowl-
edge progresses step by step, moving from lower to higher steps of
prociency (novice, beginner, competent, procient, expert) over a
time span of at least ten years (Berliner, 2001; Dreyfus & Dreyfus,
1980). In this research the pre-service teachers' development has
been a result of purposeful effort and time put into the task
(deliberate practice). According to Ericsson (2006) deliberate
practice can be a catalyst for teacher development. The authors
think that the quality of the task has a positive inuence on the
degree of effort by the pre-service teacher. It is important to devise
realistic tasks which result in an interaction between, and an
integration of, university-based and school-based learning.
Following Brouwer and Korthagen (2005) it is the integration of
university-based and school-based learning which facilitates the
development of pre-service teachers' knowledge. Each has its
value.
So what are the requisites for a curriculum that tries to link
theory and practice? The analysis in this research shows that there
are two important guidelines to encourage pre-service teachers'
cognitive development. The rst guideline is: preparing pre-service
teachers during subject meetings previous to the practicum,
323
especially with regard to assignments or suggestions for practicum.
An adequate preparation must include sufcient, useful and prac-
ticable assignments and suggestions, so that pre-service teachers
can choose from them, depending on the possibilities in practice.
For the learning of complex cognitive skills a model was developed
by Van Merrie nboer (1997). Choosing and offering the right as-
signments should take place step by step, taking into account the
cognitive load of the learner (Paas & Sweller, 2012). However, the
development of school-based teacher education teaches that pro-
fessionals within schools often design assignments without
knowledge of cognitive load and design theories. Therefore, coop-
eration with experts in curriculum design is essential.
The second guideline is: preparation of mentor teachers and
opportunities in the workplace. From a socio-cultural point of view
(Haggar & McIntyre, 2006) the professional development of pre-
service teachers depends on the quality of the workplace and the
opportunities within the internship. This is what Billett (2006)
called affordance of the workplace. Learning in the workplace
may focus on pre-service teachers' development, on qualication,
on optimization of the organisation, or on innovation. For the
school-side to form an integral part of teacher education, it is
essential that all participants (universities, schools, pre-service
teachers) ask themselves which perspectives to focus on and how
to align them (Harris, Simons, Willis, & Carden, 2003).
6. Recommendations, limitations and further research
Bridging the gap between practice and theory appears to work
by applying the principles of the three-level theory. The following
recommendations can be made on the basis of the results: rstly, an
evaluation of the curriculum as to how the link between practice
and theory can be strengthened, in particular for the subject of
Geography. Secondly, investing in professional development of
teaching skills of university-based teacher educators, specically in
skills that can be used to bridge the gap between practice and
theory. Finally, investing in training of mentor teachers in the
workplace to help mentor teachers to become co-educators who
know about specic assignments and suggestions.
The study has some limitations. First, the case test measured the
extent to which pre-service teachers used practical and conceptual
knowledge in answering a number of written questions. However,
it is not known if they actually used them in practice. Therefore
observing the practical situation could provide added value. Sec-
ond, another limitation was the motivation of the pre-service
teachers to participate in the research. The pre-service teachers
were asked to participate in a more or less mandatory way, after
completion of an exam. They were led to a room where they
cooperated in the measurements for more than half an hour. A
number of pre-service teachers felt demotivated by this and were
reluctant to complete the instruments. In response, the researchers
listened to the pre-service teachers and were able to encourage
them to complete the instruments. In future research, it is impor-
tant to inform the participants better about the content and use-
fulness of the research to ensure a motivated attitude, and to
separate the research measurements from the exams. Third, during
the period (MayeJune) that the program was implemented, a group
of pre-service teachers had quit their studies, so that at the second
measurement the composition of the group of participants had
changed. The fact that some pre-service teachers were considering
to quit their studies may also have inuenced the way they
completed the instruments in the rst measurement. Fourth, the
results cannot be compared with a control group. Further research
between programs is needed to compare the increase of conceptual
knowledge as a result of a particular program.
This study shows that it is possible to link practice to theory.
324 P. Hennissen et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 63 (2017) 314e325
More empirical evidence is needed to dene further what makes
the three-level theory work in educational practice (Korthagen,
2010). Firstly, further research based on this specic program
could focus on the extent of the link between theory and practice in
the institutional and in the school part of the curriculum. Research
questions could be: Is the material of the program in accordance
with the intended curriculum?, How do university-based teacher
educators link practice and theory during their educational activ-
ities?, To what extent do mentor teachers give feedback on
practical and theoretical knowledge of pre-service teachers? or
How do pre-service teachers link theory and practice when writing
their teaching practice blog, in which they write and reect on
educational events and their experiences?
Secondly, there are also suggestions for further research in
teacher education in general. The program of this study is largely
based on the integrated model, a model in which practicum serves
as an integrative element between universities and schools
(Mattsson et al., 2011). But research questions could also be: How
can we realize integration? or What tools are required to help pre-
service teachers integrate practical and theoretical knowledge? To
link, or to integrate, different kinds of knowledge we need models
and principles, like the Integrative Pedagogy Model (Heikkinen
et al., 2011), SECI-model of four steps of knowledge creation
(Nonaka & Konno, 1998) or Seven principles for teacher education
programs and practices (Korthagen, Loughran, & Russell, 2006).
Further research could focus on concrete programs and the use of
these models in integrating practice and theory (Arnold, Gro schner,
& Hascher, 2014; Mattsson et al., 2011).
Many teacher education institutions are struggling with the gap
between theory and practice. This study shows an educational
approach that links theory to practice in a way that can inspire and
help other teacher educators to bridge the gap and offer more
opportunities for pre-service teachers to develop their practical and
conceptual knowledge.
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