Using "Teacher Moments" as an Online Practice Space for Parent-Teacher Conference Simulation in Preservice Teacher Education

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate and improve the suitability of Teacher Moments as an online practice space for parent-teacher conference simulation in preservice teacher education. We evaluate Teacher Moments by means of a playtest conducted with students of a preservice education class for undergraduates in the Scheller Teacher Education Program (STEP) at MIT. We set out to answer 3 research questions. 1) How do users perceive the authenticity of parent-teacher conference simulations in Teacher Moments? 2) How do students’ reflections relate to the learning objectives after completing a parent-teacher conference simulation in Teacher Moments? 3) How do new users perceive the ease of use of Teacher Moments interface? Most of the preservice teachers in our study felt the simulation experience was authentic and the user interface was easy to use. The main themes we identified in the students’ reflections and class debrief were aligned with the simulation learning objectives.

Using Online Practice Spaces to Investigate Challenges in Enacting Principles of Equitable Computer Science Teaching

“…Prior work using clinical simulations to teach cultural competency requires several elements to be effective: authenticity, disequilibrium, self-reflection and discussion [3,13]. This pedagogy creates additional opportunities for teachers to practice, since "knowledge plus practice is imperative" for developing cultural competency [2], and has been successfully adapted to online practice spaces with interactive case studies [14].…”

Using Online Practice Spaces to Investigate Challenges in Enacting Principles of Equitable Computer Science Teaching

“…Doing this within online practice spaces can reveal differences in teachers' pedagogical philosophies, skills and competencies, and frames they use to position students. Based on prior work [14] we hypothesize that practice spaces would create rich opportunities to investigate how teaching decisions may be influenced by unconscious bias.…”

“…This pedagogy creates additional opportunities for teachers to practice, since "knowledge plus practice is imperative" for developing cultural competency [2], and has been successfully adapted to online practice spaces with interactive case studies [14].…”