simNewsletter Spring08

Volume 1 No. 4 - Spring 2008

simMentoring Project Update

by Rhonda Christensen, FIPSE simMentoring Project Director simSchool was designed to immerse pre-service teachers in a safeenvironment for experimenting and practicing new teaching techniques,especially methods for addressing different learning styles and widevariations in student academic and behavioral performance. Simulatingthe teaching and learning dynamics of a classroom, simSchool has thepotential to transform new teacher preparation and “early years” mentoringsystems by interjecting a digital game-based practice context. It offers arepeatable experimental platform for trying out new teaching approachesand seeing the results on learners, without endangering the humansubjects.Over the past year,teacher preparationcandidates at theUniversity of NorthTexas (UNT) havebeen using simSchoolas a learning toolto help them applytheories of learningin a simulated class-room. In the game,simulated students’ have personal characteristics that are based on theOCEAN model: Extroversion, Agreeableness, Persistence, Emotion, andIntellect. Additionally simulated students can have Visual, Auditory andKinesthetic learning styles, dimensions that are important for simulatingspecial needs students.New this year, “Create a new task” and “Create a new student” are fea-

tures that allow the user to customize. simSchool users can dene their

own task within a task category (recall, skill/concept, strategic thinking,extended thinking) as well as set nine cognitive and emotional variables

(e.g., academic difculty, the ve OCEAN characteristics, and visual, audi

-tory, and kinesthetic dimensions) that can vary in degree from –1.0 to 1.0.

As shown in the gure, “Create a new student” allows users to dene

characteristics of a simulated student. At UNT, pre-service teachers areattempting to mirror real students they work with in their methods coursesin the simSchool environment. What is yet to be done is to study whether the real students behave the same way as the simulated students.

A NEWSLETTER ABOUT GAMES AND SIMULATIONS FOR EDUCATORS

Our goal is to have simSchool model an authentic teaching and learning environment as closelyas possible, thereby providing atype of mentoring that is not affordable using real students.

simSchool.. a powerful online learning experience

that builds confdence in the classroom.

www.simschool.org

simZine

simMentoring Project Update

..cover and page 2

by Rhonda Christensen

smenorng esus

..page 3

by Gerald Knezek and Kirk Vandersall

A Journey of Learning from Year One of simMentoring

..page 4

by Lisa Hettler

ersonal Profles

..page 5

Games as Construction Zones

..pages 6-10

by Melanie Zibit

ffects of simClass

..page 11

by David Gibson

Register

..page 12

simSchool Newsletter

honda Christensenark Favazzaavid Gibsonisa Hettler erald Knezekelanie Zibit

2

As part of the simMentoring project, UNT is partneringwith faculty at the University of Maine at Farmington,University of Florida and Southeastern Louisiana Uni-versity who are beginning to use simSchool with their pre-service students as well. They are implementingmodules of simSchool with the use of the users’ manualthat was developed this past year and in additionhave access to online tutorial videos that were created

during the rst year of the project.

To help prepare future teachers who will all somedaybe teaching students with special needs, one of thefaculty members at UNT is developing modules insimSchool to simulate special needs students.With the module, simSchool users will be able seewhat happens when they assign tasks to students withvarious special needs.

simMentoring Project Update

by Rhonda Christensen, FIPSE simMentoring Project Director

"Our goal is to have simSchool model an authentic teaching and learning environment as closely as possible,thereby providing a type of mentor-ing that is not affordable using real students"

Our UNT students are providing feedback both faceto face and through a blog as they use simSchool.These comments have proved useful in updating andenhancing simSchool features. Our goal is to havesimSchool model an authentic teaching and learningenvironment as closely as possible, thereby providinga type of mentoring that is not affordable using realstudents.

❧

To learn more about simMentoring Project visitthe web site.

http://iittl.unt.edu/pse

3

simSchool is funded in part by the U.S. Dept of Education

During the spring of 2007, simSchool was introducedto 32 pre-service teacher candidates in one section of EDRE 4860 Reading and Language Arts, which is themethods course for Professional Development Schoolphase 1 students. These students were in EC-4 or 4-8teacher preparation programs. Students at this internstage which precedes student teaching, spent twodays per week taking courses and two days per weekin a classroom observing teacher and student activi-ties and assisting the classroom teacher. Pre-post in-struments assessing teaching beliefs, perceived level

of teacher preparation, level of technology prociency,

level of technology integration, and attitudes towardcomputers were administered at the beginning andend of the class.

Findings

Pre-service teacher preparation candidates involvedin the simMentoring project at the University of NorthTexas during the spring of 2007 exhibited moderateto large gains on many of the 11 teacher preparation,

technology prociency, and technology integration

indices produced from the data. The area in whichthe treatment group of pre-service teacher candidatesexhibited the largest gain in comparison to their peersthat did not receive simSchool access and training,

was on items related to instructional self-efcacy.These items reect pre-service educators’ condence

in their competence to bring about positive learning

outcomes even in difcult learning conditions. Pre-post

gains for the treatment group receiving simMentor-ing training were: pretest mean = 4.81 (on a 6-pointscale) versus posttest mean = 5.23.Comparison groupgains were pretestmean = 4.88versus post testmean 5.17. (See

gure for graphical

illustration.) Thegain by the simMentoring treatment group wouldhave been highly unlikely by chance (p .0005),while the comparison group gain was likely due tochance (p = .14). Findings provide evidence thatsimMentoring activities were successful in fostering

instructional self-efcacy in pre-service students.

❧

simMentoring

First Year Results - Pre-service Teachers Gain in Sel-ecacy

by Gerald Knezek and Kirk Vandersall

"The largest gain in comparisonto their peers that did not receive simSchool access and training, wason items related to instructional

self-efcacy"

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Upload Date:	02/27/2008
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