Project: Exploring the Effects of a Podcast Experience on Preservice Teacher Empowerment

The purpose of this pilot study is to explore the effects of podcast creation on empowerment of pre-service teachers (PSTs). Undergraduate students enrolled in an educator preparation program will create an original podcast episode examining one issue in education. Three research questions (RQ) will guide this study: (1) How do PSTs describe their experience in creating an educational podcast? (2) What are the effects of podcast creation on PSTs’ empowerment and resilience? and (3) Are effects mediated by student demographics (e.g., cultural/linguistic background, first-generation college status)? We will pair quantitative pre/post measures with qualitative interviews. Participants will complete the Brief Resilience Survey (BRS; Smith et al., 2008) and Teacher Self-Efficacy Survey (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) and participate in semi-structured interviews (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) and describe the impact of the program. We will use inductive coding to generate common themes (Saldaña, 2013).