scholarly journals Mixed-Reality Learning Environments in Teacher Education: An Analysis of TeachLivE™ Research

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110321
Author(s):  
Zara Ersozlu ◽  
Susan Ledger ◽  
Alpay Ersozlu ◽  
Fiona Mayne ◽  
Helen Wildy
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Area Of Interest

TeachLivE™, a mixed-reality simulated classroom technology, has been used in initial teacher education programs to provide repeatable experiential learning opportunities for students now for more than a decade and in more than 80 universities worldwide. However, no broad scale investigation has been conducted into how the platform has been used or what research has been generated as a result. The aim of this study is to provide insight into the types of TeachLivE™ research carried out since its inception and to identify trends and potential gaps in this research. Peer-reviewed academic primary research publications—journal articles (23), conference proceedings (12), and thesis dissertations (20)—were reviewed for participants, research methods, analysis, research design, data collection tools, and design approaches. Of the 102 articles identified as relevant, “instructional skills development” and “integration of TeachLivE™ in teacher education” were the most commonly researched topics. Findings indicate that preservice teachers were the most commonly studied group of participants, research methods were predominately qualitative, single-subject experimental research design was employed most often, and the most used data collection tools were surveys and observation. These findings highlight that the range of topics is increasing, with studies on in-service teachers in school-based contexts beginning to emerge as a new area of interest. This systematic review has implications for researchers and the developers of TeachLivE™. It provides valuable insight and recommendations for future studies in this emerging teacher education field, where technology is not simply used “in the classroom” but rather “as the classroom.”

scholarly journals The Supervised Teaching Practice and the Preservice Teachers’ Intended and Performed Actions in a Chemistry Class

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-169
Author(s):  
Natany Dayani de Souza Assai ◽  
Sergio De Mello Arruda ◽  
Fabiele Cristiane Dias Broietti
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Chemistry Teaching ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
9Th Grade

Background: Giving up prescriptive views on the teacher’s action in the classroom is necessary for a better understanding of the teaching work. We are also faced with the absence of works that address teaching action under an investigative bias in initial teacher education. Objectives:  identify and categorise the actions intended and performed by preservice teachers in a chemistry class, looking for implications for teacher education. Design: the study fits into a qualitative-interpretative research perspective. Setting and Participants: The data analysed comes from the monitoring of chemistry teaching degree students in the Supervised Teaching Practice discipline and their teaching in a 9th-grade class in a public school. Data collection and analysis: data collection took place through different instruments: lesson plans and audio and video recordings of the classes, that enabled interpretations based on the assumptions of the textual discursive analysis. Results: for the actions intended, a small set of five actions was identified (question, write, explain, organise, identify). The actions carried out, on the other hand, include a larger set of 13 actions and, mainly, microactions, made possible by the actions intended. There is a convergence between the actions initially planned and development in the departments, and the emergence of specific actions in the context of the Supervised Practice. Conclusions: Such results indicate the importance of categorising the actions of the undergraduate students in a chemistry class, resulting in a set of actions not yet identified in other studies, and discussing the importance of the Teaching Practice in the constitution of elements of the teaching work.

Informing Teaching Through Community Engagement

2018 ◽  
pp. 278-298
Author(s):  
Trish Lewis ◽  
Letitia Hochstrasser Fickel ◽  
Glynne Mackey ◽  
Des Breeze
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic

Preservice teacher education programs prepare teachers for a variety of educational settings that serve a diverse range of children. Research suggests that many graduates lack confidence and the capability to teach those from backgrounds different from their own, including children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and children with additional learning needs. In the bicultural, and increasingly multicultural, New Zealand context, preservice teachers are overwhelmingly from White, middle-class, monolingual backgrounds. This chapter offers a case study of the development of a community engagement course within an initial teacher education degree program. Based on Kolb's model of experiential learning and Moll's notions of funds of knowledge and identity, the course aims to enhance preservice teachers' knowledge of the lives of children they teach, and their dispositions and cultural competence for teaching, through personal and professional interaction with the community.

scholarly journals Scoping the meaning of ‘critical’ in mathematical thinking for Initial Teacher Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Furness ◽  
Bronwen Cowie ◽  
Beverley Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Mathematical Thinking ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Adult Participation ◽  
Achievement Data ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Administrative Tasks

Current strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy in New Zealand educational policy, as elsewhere, reverberates in different ways in institutions charged with children’s and adults’ learning. A common response is to locate literacy and numeracy centrally in programmes aimed at preparing children for and enhancing adult participation in 21st century life and work. These agendas overlap in preservice teacher education. Preservice teachers enter Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes as adult learners engaged in building literacy and numeracy capability for teaching across the curriculum, working with student achievement data and administrative tasks, aspects of which may also be useful in their wider lives. These activities involve making judgements that require critical thinking, another key policy focus in New Zealand and internationally for children’s and adults’ learning. This article explores meanings of ‘critical’ in the context of mathematical thinking in ITE programmes. Given that mathematically based arguments can have both helpful and harmful consequences for humanity, we propose that development in preservice teachers’ capacity for critical mathematical thinking is crucial. In these times of significant global change we advocate for development of the kind of critical mathematical thinking that facilitates teachers working actively in pursuit of a socially just and sustainable world.

scholarly journals Gaining insight into teaching profession by using film: a preservice teachers’ experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 290 ◽  
pp. 13003
Author(s):  
Daniela-Maria Creţu
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Instructional Tools ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Insight Into

Films can be used as instructional tools in higher education in different disciplines. In the context of teacher education, films with and about teachers and pupils are valuable resources for learning about the teaching profession. The purpose of this study is to examine the pre-service teachers’ reflections on a film with an educational content and message - The Triumph (The Ron Clark Story, 2006). One research question guided the investigation: What are the students’ cognitive and emotional gains for the teaching profession as a result of watching this film? The participants consisted of eighty-two second year students, enrolled in an initial teacher education program at a Romanian university. At the end of a one-semester course, named Pedagogy (Instruction and Students’ Assessment) pre-service teachers were invited to watch a film and then to reflect about it, by completing an open-ended questionnaire. The responses were analyzed through the content analysis technique. Examples of comments made by preservice teachers are presented and analyzed. The results show a range of understandings gained by future teachers through the use of the film.

scholarly journals Learnings from the Adult Religious Education and Faith Development (AREFD) project for initial teacher education of religious educators

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Sweetman
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Faith Development ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Religious Educators ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Republic

AbstractSince October 2018, researchers at the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education at Dublin City University have been engaged in the Adult Religious Education and Faith Development (AREFD) project. The overarching aim of the project was to facilitate a re-energising of adult religious education and faith development in Ireland. Working amongst local faith communities with an academic research focus, an area of interest that has emerged is how the insights gained from AREFD project can contribute to initial teacher education, particularly involving students preparing for employment as post-primary religious educators. This paper will outline some of the key themes that emerged from the data gathered in phase two of the AREFD project as it pertains to the initial teacher education (ITE) of religious educators. In phase two, a total of fourteen semi-structured interviews/focus groups were conducted between December 2019 and April 2021, featuring twenty-two people from across the island of Ireland who have a wealth of experience in AREFD across diverse contexts. The purpose of these interviews was to gather together the rich insights from the depth of experience of the interviewees on practicalities and possibilities central to adult religious education. The contexts in which they have worked are all pertinent to both the post-primary Religious Education curriculum in the Republic of Ireland and wider related learning experiences, in Ireland and beyond. Four key findings from this phase of the AREFD project are reported upon in this paper: the specific realm of AREFD as distinct from school-based religious education and catechesis; the need for intentional investment in AREFD; the physicality of religion; collaboration, communication and connection. These findings may contribute to the reflections of and course development by initial teacher education providers as they seek to offer the highest quality opportunities to their students, in the understanding that their students are adults themselves and that education is a lifelong endeavour.

The Challenge and Promise of Complexity Theory for Teacher Education Research

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Cochran-Smith ◽  
Fiona Ell ◽  
Larry Ludlow ◽  
Lexie Grudnoff ◽  
Graeme Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Education Research ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Linear Logic ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
New Research ◽  
Teacher Education Research

Background/Context In many countries, there are multiple studies intended to improve initial teacher education. These have generally focused on pieces of teacher education rather than wholes, and have used an underlying linear logic. It may be, however, that what is needed are new research questions and theoretical frameworks that account for wholes, not just parts, and take complex, rather than reductionist perspectives. Purpose This article examines the challenges and the promises of complexity theory as a framework for teacher education research. One purpose is to elaborate the basic tenets of complexity theory, summarize its previous uses, and identify key challenges. A second purpose is to propose a new research platform that combines complexity theory with critical realism (CT-CR) and prompts a new set of empirical questions and research methods. Research Design Drawing on scholarship from sociology and education, the underlying design—or logic—of this analytic essay is this: explanation of the basic tenets of complexity theory applied to teacher education, assessment of previous research informed by complexity theory, response to the major epistemological and methodological challenges involved in using complexity theory as a research framework, and proposal of a new set of questions and methods. Findings/Results Complexity theory is appealing to teacher education researchers who want to avoid simplistic and reductionist perspectives. However, most previous complexity research has not addressed the critiques: the proclivity of complexity theory for retrospective description; the assertion that, given its rejection of linear causality, complexity theory cannot provide causal explanations with implications for practice; and the charge that complexity-informed research cannot deal with the values and power inequalities inherent in the normative enterprise of education. Integrating complexity theory with critical realism provides a way to address these fundamental challenges. Building on this new platform, the essay proposes a new set of empirical questions about initial teacher education along with several innovative research methods to address those questions. Conclusions/Recommendations This essay concludes that the combination of complexity theory and critical realism offers a unique platform for teacher education research, which has theoretical consistency, methodological integrity, and practical significance. The essay recommends that its proposed new empirical questions and methods may have the capacity to show us where to look and what processes to trace as teacher candidates learn to enact practice that enhances the learning of all students, including those not well-served by the current system.

Informing Teaching Through Community Engagement

2019 ◽  
pp. 1225-1245
Author(s):  
Trish Lewis ◽  
Letitia Hochstrasser Fickel ◽  
Glynne Mackey ◽  
Des Breeze
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic

Preservice teacher education programs prepare teachers for a variety of educational settings that serve a diverse range of children. Research suggests that many graduates lack confidence and the capability to teach those from backgrounds different from their own, including children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and children with additional learning needs. In the bicultural, and increasingly multicultural, New Zealand context, preservice teachers are overwhelmingly from White, middle-class, monolingual backgrounds. This chapter offers a case study of the development of a community engagement course within an initial teacher education degree program. Based on Kolb's model of experiential learning and Moll's notions of funds of knowledge and identity, the course aims to enhance preservice teachers' knowledge of the lives of children they teach, and their dispositions and cultural competence for teaching, through personal and professional interaction with the community.

Preservice Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge about Repeating Patterns and their Ability to Notice Preschoolers Algebraic Thinking

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 30-59
Author(s):  
Joana Cabral ◽  
Hélia Oliveira ◽  
Fátima Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Teaching Experiment ◽  
Algebraic Thinking ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Early Algebra ◽  
Repeating Patterns

Background: Several studies have shown that many preservice teachers (PTs) who teach in the early years have a superficial knowledge about repeating patterns (RPs), which affects their knowledge about children’s algebraic thinking. Objective: This article aims to understand PTs’ algebraic thinking and their ability to notice preschoolers algebraic thinking and how these two domains articulate within a teacher education experiment. Design: The study follows a qualitative methodology based on participant observation, complemented by document collection. Setting and participants: The study stems from a teaching experiment carried out in a school module focused on patterns and algebra of a degree in basic education, with two pairs of PTs as participants. Data collection and analysis: The data come from the written productions and discussions between the elements of each pair of PTs within the scope of the tasks proposed in the teacher education course, adopting an original analysis framework. Results: The results reveal that the PTs successfully identify the structure of the RPs and the general position of each term; however, one of the pairs still find difficulties in fully understanding that mathematical object. The pairs attend to relevant aspects of children’s algebraic thinking, although sometimes with limited interpretation. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of creating opportunities in initial teacher education for PTs to develop their algebraic thinking from an early algebra perspective and to analyse, in this context, the preschoolers’ work.

Leveraging the Power of Play in Rehearsals: Supporting Complex Practice in Literacy Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Nicholas E. Husbye
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
School Based ◽  
Urban Institution ◽  
Education Coursework

Context There is an ever-growing body of work continuing the argument for play as a pedagogical resource that supports the learning of the youngest learners; despite this, there continues to be little evidence play has been considered as such in teacher education. Research Focus The study sought to understand the role of play and playful pedagogies in a school-based literacy education course within a teacher educator program. Setting Research was conducted in a school-based literacy education course housed in an urban school in the Midwest. Participants Preservice teachers enrolled in literacy education coursework at a midsized urban institution of teacher education. Research Design Data utilized in this study comes from a multiple case study using a practitioner inquiry lens. Data Collection and Analysis Data collection occurred over five semesters (Spring 2016-Spring 2018). Types of data included mid- and end-of-semester interviews, audio and video recordings of rehearsals, video recording of enactments, and a variety of artifacts produced by preservice teachers within the course. Findings Play, utilized within the context of a literacy education course, promoted the development of complexity tolerance: an ability to entertain the variables that may impact their teaching, even those they had not thought of. Recommendations This complexity tolerance supported preservice teachers in being able to respond to student learning in the moment, deviate from instructional planning when necessary, and interrogate their own educational histories. It is a powerful pedagogical tool to support preservice teacher development when intentionally invoked in teacher education coursework.

scholarly journals A COVID-19 Re-envisioned Teaching Practicum Curriculum

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-266
Author(s):  
Carisma Nel ◽  
Carolina Botha ◽  
Elma Marais
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
School Partnerships ◽  
Teaching Practicum ◽  
Alternative Placement ◽  
University School Partnerships ◽  
Faculties Of Education

The changes taking place in the schooling landscape because of the coronavirus are real and meaningful and have implications for the training of preservice teachers, especially the teaching practicum component of their initial teacher education programs. The havoc caused by COVID-19 forced many faculties of education into a state of ‘panic-gogy’ to ensure that student teachers could complete their teaching practicums. In this paper we argue that consideration should be given to core teaching practices and practice-based teacher education pedagogies (i.e., representations and approximations) that can be used in alternative “placement contexts” that will supplement and harness the authenticity of school-based experiences. We provide two conceptual tools, collaboratively developed by teaching practicum educators and mentor teachers, that can be used as heuristic by other university-school partnerships when considering teaching practicum redesign efforts.

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