TY - JOUR
T1 - Design Evaluation of a Simulation for Teacher Education
AU - Badiee, Farnaz
AU - Kaufman, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2015.
PY - 2015/6/19
Y1 - 2015/6/19
N2 - Recent calls to improve the quality of education in schools have drawn attention to the importance of teachers’ preparation for work in classroom settings. Although the practicum has long been the traditional means for pre-service teachers to learn and practice classroom teaching, it does not always offer student teachers the time, safe practice experiences, repetition, or extensive feedback needed for them to gain adequate knowledge, skills, and confidence. Well-designed simulations can augment the practicum and address these gaps. This study evaluated the design of simSchool (v.1), an online simulation for pre-service teachers, using student teachers’ ratings of selected factors, including realism, appropriateness of content and curriculum, appropriateness for target users, and user interaction. Based on these ratings, the study identified strengths and weaknesses, and suggested improvements for the software. Participant ratings varied considerably but indicated that certain aspects of the simulation, such as its educational value, classroom challenges, and simulated student characteristics, were moderately well received. However, user interface navigation and the range and realism of simulated teacher–student interactions should be improved.
AB - Recent calls to improve the quality of education in schools have drawn attention to the importance of teachers’ preparation for work in classroom settings. Although the practicum has long been the traditional means for pre-service teachers to learn and practice classroom teaching, it does not always offer student teachers the time, safe practice experiences, repetition, or extensive feedback needed for them to gain adequate knowledge, skills, and confidence. Well-designed simulations can augment the practicum and address these gaps. This study evaluated the design of simSchool (v.1), an online simulation for pre-service teachers, using student teachers’ ratings of selected factors, including realism, appropriateness of content and curriculum, appropriateness for target users, and user interaction. Based on these ratings, the study identified strengths and weaknesses, and suggested improvements for the software. Participant ratings varied considerably but indicated that certain aspects of the simulation, such as its educational value, classroom challenges, and simulated student characteristics, were moderately well received. However, user interface navigation and the range and realism of simulated teacher–student interactions should be improved.
KW - design evaluation
KW - pre-service
KW - simSchool
KW - simulation
KW - teacher education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85026210145&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/2158244015592454
DO - 10.1177/2158244015592454
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85026210145
SN - 2158-2440
VL - 5
JO - SAGE Open
JF - SAGE Open
IS - 2
ER -