In order to deepen students' understanding of natural phenomenon and how scientific knowledge is constructed, it is critical that science teachers learn how to engage students in productive scientific argumentation. Simulations for teachers are one possible solution to providing practice‐based spaces where novices can approximate the work of facilitating argumentation‐focused science discussions. This study's purpose is to examine how preservice elementary teachers (PSETs) engage in this ambitious teaching practice within an online simulated classroom composed of five upper elementary student avatars. In this study, which is part of a larger research project, we developed and used four performance tasks to provide opportunities for PSETs to practice facilitating argumentation‐focused science discussions within a simulated classroom. The student avatars were controlled on the backend by a human‐in‐the‐loop who was trained to respond to the teachers' prompts in real time using predesigned student thinking profiles and specific technology, such as voice modulation software. We used analysis of transcripts from the PSETs' video‐recorded discussions to examine how the PSETs engaged the student avatars in scientific argumentation, with particular attention to the teaching moves that supported argument construction and argument critique. We also used survey and interview data to examine how the PSETs viewed the usefulness of these simulation‐based tools to support their learning. Findings show that there was variability in the extent to which the PSETs engaged the student avatars in argument construction and argument critique and the teaching moves that the PSETs used to do so. Results also indicated that PSETs strongly perceive the value of using such tools within teacher education. Implications for the potential of simulations to provide insights into novices' ability to engage students in scientific argumentation and to support them in learning in and from their practice, including how to productively integrate these tools in teacher education, are discussed.
Investigating Adoption and Collaboration with Digital Clinical Simulations by Teacher Educators.
In this study, we examine the outcome of a four-day workshop with 24 Teacher Educators (fellows) who were supported in using two tools - Teacher Moments (TM) and Eliciting Learner Knowledge (ELK). The tools are designed for authoring, implementing, and research Digital Clinical Simulations in education. The simulations centered around issues of equity in K-12 computer science education to provide in-/pre-service teachers with opportunities to practice high-stakes interactions in low-stakes settings. We operationalize the technology adoption of the fellows through the notions of self-efficacy, help-seeking, and technology concerns to recognize the potential barriers they faced in transitioning from authoring to implementing and research design. Finally, we note the fellows' implementation plans in the ensuing academic year and examine potential collaborations amongst them using social network analysis. Our results reveal how a small group of fellows, spanning major regions of the U.S., generate a broad range of scenarios, as well as clusters of scenarios, enabling simulation-based research supported by collaboration.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1917668
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10252005
- Editor(s):
- Langran, E.; Archambault, L.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 2021 Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) Conference
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1209-1217
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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In this paper we explore how to support teacher educators to author their own digital clinical simulations to prepare K-12 pre-service computer science teachers. Teacher educators have the potential to create simulations about relevant content for their teacher preparation programs and contextualize those simulations for their students. To benefit from this unique perspective, we support teacher educators in authoring simulations. We consider the relationship between authoring simulations and digital storytelling to inform our authoring tools and supports. In this study, we report results on what kinds of supports are needed for authoring simulations based on a co-design workshop with 12 teacher educators from nine U.S. states across all regions of the country. We examine how these authors set context, select content, and engage in the simulation authoring process to gain insight into supporting teacher educators as digital storytellersmore » « less
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Student success in educational ecosystems is a primary goal of leadership efforts. Yet, power and privilege affect the racial, classist, and gendered implications of STEM education work in K-12 education as well as higher education. Interventions have been done at various levels, but despite the hard work of implementation, this has not resulted in dramatic improvements to STEM educational ecosystems or student engagement within them. Often, these implementations are done at the faculty/student level or institutional level but not at the departmental leadership level. The NSF-supported Eco-STEM Project proposes to establish a healthy educational ecosystem that supports all individuals (students, faculty, and staff) to thrive. Project activities are guided by ecosystem paradigm measures that support a culturally responsive learning/working environment; make teaching and learning rewarding and fulfilling; and emphasize community assets to enhance motivation, excellence, and success. For this work-in-progress paper, we describe the development of a leadership community of practice, comprised of department chairs of science and engineering departments, at [university name redacted], a large state-funded comprehensive majority minority master’s granting institution in the Southwest United States. In the year-long Leadership Community of Practice (L-CoP), the Fellows work on unpacking issues of power and privilege in their roles as STEM leaders and educators. During the Fall semester of 2022, the Fellows participated in four sessions. They engaged in readings, videos, active-learning activities, and critically reflective dialogues to facilitate discussion and reflection on identity, agency, the culture of power in STEM, and interventions and change in higher education. The L-CoP starts with Fellows reflecting on their social and professional identities and how their identities influence their teaching and leadership philosophies. Then Fellows are introduced to the framework of the culture of power in science--where they explore the social, cultural, and political impacts of preparing for a STEM college education. Finally, they explore theories and models of change for STEM higher education spaces. Through this curriculum, we aim to examine mental models to deconstruct notions that uphold the culture of power in science by instead building counternarratives with faculty and students in their departments. Through dialogues within the L-CoP, leaders discuss classroom/program climate, structure, and vibrancy to better support healthy educational ecosystems, as well as their participation in these systems. We are currently in the middle of our first implementation of the L-CoP. The first cohort consists of six L-CoP Fellows with highly diverse positionalities; there is racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, and all Fellows are full professors in the tenure line and chairs of their respective departments. We present details of the L-CoP, including the formation of the Fellow cohort, training of the facilitators, structure of the sessions, and initial results of our mid-program survey. The survey results provide insights into potential improvements to our tools and program. We also share some of the Fellows’ and facilitators’ reflections demonstrating a shift toward an ecosystem mindset. We prefer to present this work as a poster at the 2023 ASEE Annual Conference.more » « less
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