Field Research Report Spring 2008
PostedApril 30, 2008
by Dr.GFor the benefit of those who are considering introducing simSchool in teacher education courses, here is a brief reflective report from a professor sharing “what worked.”
Fall 2007:
Preservice teachers: 59
Instructors: 2
Spring 2008:
Preservice teachers: 26
Instructor: 1
Our findings: Students have resisted this program due to the learning curve and time it takes to really get the program to do what you want. (Hmmm…it is like the real classroom…it takes some times for things to start going the way you want them to.) What we are finding is that students who spend more than 10 hours and really commit to the program have more success and really talk up the program as a powerful learning experience. Students that really don’t take the effort and time to get into the program never get past that initial “wall”.
It does take multiple instructional sessions (and the more the better) for students to use this program well. Entering instructional lessons and the true planning that needs to occur before students start using simSchool is critical for success. (Students noted that this is just like “real” teaching–the death is in the details and if you go in without planning, “you are toast”. ) We do model the planning process for students and how we could use simSchool, conduct several simSchool simulations together, and then have students start branching out on their own. The College of Ed not have computer labs large enough or sufficient numbers of wireless laptops for our large class that uses simSchool to be in front of a computer so their initial exposure to the program is with the instructor demonstrating planning and then implementation multiple times. We have determined that this actually works well because our students really watched and paid close attention. Our smaller class went to the computer lab the first time and students explored on their own while instruction was taking place. It ended up taking the larger group less time to get up and running than the smaller group that had computers in front of them at initial exposure.
Where students expressed great frustration was in the comments available to them and the speed in which they could enter comments to students. I was frequently told, “I would never say that to a student.” and “I wish I could type in my own comment. It takes so long for me to enter my comment that the student has already changed his/her behavior and I’m behind.”
Students also commented they would like to enter in additional information about students when creating their own simStudents. When I asked what kind of information, they mentioned culture, background experiences in learning and life experiences, and SES information. Many are trying to create a “problem” student from their practicum or internship.
Students also mentioned that they felt limited in creating instructional activities/assignments because many of the strategies for cooperative learning and creating engaging learning environments learned during the semester were not available. I had comments such as “If I taught this in my practicum or internship, I wouldn’t have done this activity. I would have used X, Y, or Z.” Students reported that when they really tried to customized, students didn’t respond any differently than using the preset activities/assignments/strategies.
Students that submitted more than 10 simulations (where the student had to show some type of progress), these students really mastered the mechanics of the program enough to truly learn significant ideas about thinking of how to work with individual students or small groups. To date, I have not had a student select an entire class. Those small groups in the simulation are as much as our students feel comfortable handling.
Now, to give you context on the preservice teachers taking this course: Students are in a first semester course, Effective Teaching & Classroom Management, designed for secondary students in an NCATE, state-approved program (in the fall) or alternative certification students (fall and spring). Students do NOT have a strong background in planning instructional lessons or in thinking about classroom management. Students come into this semester with a mentality of being a consumer of education and we are making that transition to being a producer/facilitator of educational learning experiences. All have a BA/BS in an academic field. None have formal education in education and very few earned a minor in education at the undergraduate level.