Abstract

In the realm of online graduate-level teacher education courses, the utilization of literature circles as a teaching method is unconventional. This study adopts a case study design to scrutinize the interaction and participation of participants in an asynchronous setting, aiming to assess the effectiveness of literature circles in comparison to synchronous counterparts of research endeavors to discern the impact of each modality, examining their respective contributions to student learning. The adoption of a literature circle format in teacher education is crucial for equipping educators with the skills to employ this instructional method effectively in K-12 classrooms, with the overarching goal of enhancing reading abilities and fostering engagement among diverse learners. The insights gleaned from this research not only contributes to the refinement of instructional practices within the investigated graduate course but also hold significance for potentially integrating literature circles into other online teacher education courses, thus expanding their pedagogical application.