Digital innovations in teacher recruitment: An experimental study

IF 10.5 1区教育学 Q1 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS

Computers & Education Pub Date : 2025-09-01 DOI:10.1016/j.compedu.2025.105450

Robert M. Klassen , Hui Wang , Joe Cutting , Sophie Thompson-Lee , Rebecca J.S. Snell , Beng Huat See , Michael Saiger

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Abstract

Teacher shortages are a serious challenge in many countries, made worse by declining enrolments in initial teacher education (ITE) programs and growing competition for talented young people making career decisions. To address this challenge, we developed and tested two digital interventions—a persuasive game (TeachQuest) and a realistic job preview (RJP)—designed to enhance undergraduate students' teaching interest, teaching self-efficacy, and perceptions of fit with the profession. In a two-phase experimental study (N = 957), undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to TeachQuest, the RJP, or a control condition. Results from Phase 1 showed that both interventions increased participants' interest and perceived fit with teaching, with the RJP also improving teaching self-efficacy. In Phase 2, results from a delayed post-test (six weeks later; N = 572) indicated that while motivation-related outcomes remained higher than pre-test levels, changes were non-linear, with TeachQuest sustaining interest through participants’ immersion experiences and the RJP maintaining self-efficacy through mastery experiences. Our findings suggest that immersive game-based recruitment interventions may be particularly effective in informing and engaging potential applicants, whereas RJPs may be useful in reinforcing confidence in teaching. The study provides new insights informing the design of scalable, evidence-based teacher recruitment tools that align with the interests and digital-focused lives of prospective applicants for ITE programs.

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教师招聘中的数字化创新：一项实验研究

在许多国家，教师短缺是一个严峻的挑战，而初级教师教育（ITE）项目的入学率下降以及对有才能的年轻人进行职业决策的竞争加剧，使这一问题更加严重。为了应对这一挑战，我们开发并测试了两种数字干预——一种是说服性游戏（TeachQuest），另一种是现实工作预览（RJP）——旨在提高本科生的教学兴趣、教学自我效能感和对职业的适应感。在一项两阶段的实验研究中（N = 957），本科生参与者被随机分配到TeachQuest、RJP或对照条件中。第一阶段的结果显示，两种干预都提高了被试对教学的兴趣和感知契合度，RJP也提高了教学自我效能感。在第二阶段，延迟后测（六周后，N = 572）的结果表明，虽然动机相关的结果仍然高于前测水平，但变化是非线性的，TeachQuest通过参与者的沉浸体验维持兴趣，RJP通过掌握体验维持自我效能。我们的研究结果表明，基于沉浸式游戏的招聘干预在告知和吸引潜在申请人方面可能特别有效，而rfp可能有助于增强教学信心。该研究为设计可扩展的、基于证据的教师招聘工具提供了新的见解，这些工具与ITE项目潜在申请人的兴趣和以数字为中心的生活保持一致。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Computers & Education 工程技术-计算机：跨学科应用

CiteScore

27.10

自引率

5.80%

发文量

204

审稿时长

42 days

期刊介绍： Computers & Education seeks to advance understanding of how digital technology can improve education by publishing high-quality research that expands both theory and practice. The journal welcomes research papers exploring the pedagogical applications of digital technology, with a focus broad enough to appeal to the wider education community.