Instructional strategies for using video in teacher education Tina Seidel a, * , Geraldine Blomberg a,1 , Alexander Renkl b, 2 a Technische Universität München, TUM School of Education, Marsstr. 20-22, 80335 München, Germany b University of Freiburg, Department of Psychology, Educational and Developmental Psychology, Engelbergerstr. 41, 79085 Freiburg, Germany highlights  Two instructional strategies for using video in teacher education were investigated.  A rule-example strategy scored higher in factual knowledge and class observation.  An example-rule group scored higher in identifying challenges in lesson planning.  The findings show a differential but positive effect of using video.  Implications call for the informed and specific use of video in teacher education. article info Article history: Received 14 August 2012 Received in revised form 25 March 2013 Accepted 27 March 2013 Keywords: Teacher education Teacher knowledge Pedagogical knowledge Video Instructional design Situated learning abstract Using video in teacher education can increase pre-service teachers’ ability to apply knowledge. However, video is not effective in itself. To be useful, it must be embedded in appropriate instructional contexts. We investigated the differential impact of two university modulesdone using video as an illustrative example (rule-example) and one using video as an anchor (example-rule)don pre-service teachers’ (N ¼ 56) knowledge. The rule-example group scored higher on reproducing factual knowledge and evaluating videotaped classroom situations, whereas the example-rule group scored higher on lesson planning. The findings emphasize the need for their targeted use depending on specific learning goals. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction University-based teacher education has been criticized for not bridging the gap between theory and practice, resp. helping pre- service teachers in successfully linking pedagogical knowledge to the actual practice of classroom situations (Borko, Liston, & Whitcomb, 2006; Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005). Many pre- service teachers struggle when trying to integrate basic knowl- edge that is taught in the different courses on content and peda- gogy, as well as to apply this knowledge to the actual situation of classroom teaching (Ball, 2000; Blomberg, Stürmer, & Seidel, 2011; Brouwer, 2010; Schoenfeld, 1998). Much emphasis, therefore, has been given to integrate practice into the context of initial teacher education (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005; Grossman et al., 2009; Grossman & McDonald, 2008). A call was given to support pre-service teachers in acquiring ‘integrated’ knowledge, meaning well-defined and differentiated knowledge structures that are connected to multiple contexts of application (Borko, 2004; Putnam & Borko, 2000). Contexts for knowledge application, however, do not necessarily have to involve the complex and dynamic setting of real classrooms. Researchers rather argue for “approximations of practice” (Grossman & McDonald, 2008), meaning that application contexts can vary and include diverse aspects in the full cycle of teaching, such as lesson planning (as a form of constructing mental representations of possible classroom settings) or observation of classrooms (as a form of applying knowledge to the observation and reflection of teaching). So far, a number of researchers have answered to this call, some by describing existing curricula and instructional activities in teacher education programs and providing valuable information with regard to existing structures and practices (e.g. Grossman * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ49 89 289 25118; fax: þ49 89 289 25199. E-mail addresses: tina.seidel@tum.de (T. Seidel), geraldine.blomberg@tum.de (G. Blomberg), renkl@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de (A. Renkl). 1 Tel.: þ49 89 289 25119; fax: þ49 89 289 25199. 2 Tel.: þ49 761 203 3003; fax: þ49 761 302 3100. Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate 0742-051X/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.03.004 Teaching and Teacher Education 34 (2013) 56e65