This study describes how participation in a university literacy clinic impacts self-efficacy in pre-service teacher candidates. This study was conducted one and a half years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, creating the need for the clinic’s program, Literacy Camp, to be completed through fully virtual means. Thus, ways in which the pre-service teachers’ experience was impacted by the method of instructional delivery was also detailed. Despite the body of growing research related to virtual learning and efficacy outcomes, there was a gap in the literature related to pre-service teachers’ participation in a fully virtual university literacy clinic and its impacts on their self-efficacy. This study was designed with a need to fill this hole in mind.
The unique and personal experiences of 23 elementary pre-service teacher candidates completing a yearlong internship and participating in a university literacy clinic were explored in this qualitative case study, framed through a social constructivist lens (Creswell, 2013; Vygotsky, 1978) so that the voice of the individual was elevated and carefully considered. A convenience sampling scheme was utilized to collect and analyze data compiled from three main data sources provided by pre-service teacher candidate participants: an efficacy pre-survey, an efficacy post-survey, and ten daily debrief forms.
Four original themes emerged from the data: Building a Learning Culture, Tutor as the Learner, Student First Approach to Intervention, and The Virtual Environment. Findings from this study indicate that participation in the virtual literacy clinic allowed pre-service teachers to successfully plan and implement a full, individualized intervention related to literacy learning for one elementary or middle school student. Participants were able to reflect on their experience to grow as a learner and recognize the impacts they made on their Literacy Camp students. Despite the challenges faced through a fully virtual learning setting, pre-service teachers were able to overcome obstacles and complete their practicum experience, gaining self-efficacy throughout the process.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study describes how participation in a university literacy clinic impacts self-efficacy in pre-service teacher candidates. This study was conducted one and a half years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, creating the need for the clinic’s program, Literacy Camp, to be completed through fully virtual means. Thus, ways in which the pre-service teachers’ experience was impacted by the method of instructional delivery was also detailed. Despite the body of growing research related to virtual learning and efficacy outcomes, there was a gap in the literature related to pre-service teachers’ participation in a fully virtual university literacy clinic and its impacts on their self-efficacy. This study was designed with a need to fill this hole in mind.</p> <p>The unique and personal experiences of 23 elementary pre-service teacher candidates completing a yearlong internship and participating in a university literacy clinic were explored in this qualitative case study, framed through a social constructivist lens (Creswell, 2013; Vygotsky, 1978) so that the voice of the individual was elevated and carefully considered. A convenience sampling scheme was utilized to collect and analyze data compiled from three main data sources provided by pre-service teacher candidate participants: an efficacy pre-survey, an efficacy post-survey, and ten daily debrief forms.</p> <p>Four original themes emerged from the data: Building a Learning Culture, Tutor as the Learner, Student First Approach to Intervention, and The Virtual Environment. Findings from this study indicate that participation in the virtual literacy clinic allowed pre-service teachers to successfully plan and implement a full, individualized intervention related to literacy learning for one elementary or middle school student. Participants were able to reflect on their experience to grow as a learner and recognize the impacts they made on their Literacy Camp students. Despite the challenges faced through a fully virtual learning setting, pre-service teachers were able to overcome obstacles and complete their practicum experience, gaining self-efficacy throughout the process.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mahoney Spears, Caitlin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elsass, Angela","Goering, Christian Z."],"advisors":["Young, Heather D."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:59:40Z","subjects":["Literacy Clinic","Pre-Service Teacher Education","Teacher Self-Efficacy","Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4421","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elsass, Angela","Goering, Christian Z."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Young, Heather D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mahoney Spears, Caitlin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2022"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Literacy Clinic","Pre-Service Teacher Education","Teacher Self-Efficacy","Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4421"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study describes how participation in a university literacy clinic impacts self-efficacy in pre-service teacher candidates. This study was conducted one and a half years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, creating the need for the clinic’s program, Literacy Camp, to be completed through fully virtual means. Thus, ways in which the pre-service teachers’ experience was impacted by the method of instructional delivery was also detailed. Despite the body of growing research related to virtual learning and efficacy outcomes, there was a gap in the literature related to pre-service teachers’ participation in a fully virtual university literacy clinic and its impacts on their self-efficacy. This study was designed with a need to fill this hole in mind.
The unique and personal experiences of 23 elementary pre-service teacher candidates completing a yearlong internship and participating in a university literacy clinic were explored in this qualitative case study, framed through a social constructivist lens (Creswell, 2013; Vygotsky, 1978) so that the voice of the individual was elevated and carefully considered. A convenience sampling scheme was utilized to collect and analyze data compiled from three main data sources provided by pre-service teacher candidate participants: an efficacy pre-survey, an efficacy post-survey, and ten daily debrief forms.
Four original themes emerged from the data: Building a Learning Culture, Tutor as the Learner, Student First Approach to Intervention, and The Virtual Environment. Findings from this study indicate that participation in the virtual literacy clinic allowed pre-service teachers to successfully plan and implement a full, individualized intervention related to literacy learning for one elementary or middle school student. Participants were able to reflect on their experience to grow as a learner and recognize the impacts they made on their Literacy Camp students. Despite the challenges faced through a fully virtual learning setting, pre-service teachers were able to overcome obstacles and complete their practicum experience, gaining self-efficacy throughout the process.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Investigating the Impacts of Participating in a Virtual Literacy Clinic: A Case Study Exploring Self-Efficacy in Pre-Service Teachers"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Elsass, Angela","Goering, Christian Z."],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Young, Heather D."],"dc:creator":["Mahoney Spears, Caitlin"],"dc:date":["2022"],"dc:date.available":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study describes how participation in a university literacy clinic impacts self-efficacy in pre-service teacher candidates. This study was conducted one and a half years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, creating the need for the clinic’s program, Literacy Camp, to be completed through fully virtual means. Thus, ways in which the pre-service teachers’ experience was impacted by the method of instructional delivery was also detailed. Despite the body of growing research related to virtual learning and efficacy outcomes, there was a gap in the literature related to pre-service teachers’ participation in a fully virtual university literacy clinic and its impacts on their self-efficacy. This study was designed with a need to fill this hole in mind.
The unique and personal experiences of 23 elementary pre-service teacher candidates completing a yearlong internship and participating in a university literacy clinic were explored in this qualitative case study, framed through a social constructivist lens (Creswell, 2013; Vygotsky, 1978) so that the voice of the individual was elevated and carefully considered. A convenience sampling scheme was utilized to collect and analyze data compiled from three main data sources provided by pre-service teacher candidate participants: an efficacy pre-survey, an efficacy post-survey, and ten daily debrief forms.
Four original themes emerged from the data: Building a Learning Culture, Tutor as the Learner, Student First Approach to Intervention, and The Virtual Environment. Findings from this study indicate that participation in the virtual literacy clinic allowed pre-service teachers to successfully plan and implement a full, individualized intervention related to literacy learning for one elementary or middle school student. Participants were able to reflect on their experience to grow as a learner and recognize the impacts they made on their Literacy Camp students. Despite the challenges faced through a fully virtual learning setting, pre-service teachers were able to overcome obstacles and complete their practicum experience, gaining self-efficacy throughout the process.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4421"],"dc:subject":["Literacy Clinic","Pre-Service Teacher Education","Teacher Self-Efficacy","Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["Investigating the Impacts of Participating in a Virtual Literacy Clinic: A Case Study Exploring Self-Efficacy in Pre-Service Teachers"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:59:40Z"}