University of Virginia

Teacher Training Through Computer Simulation

Purpose of Project:

The Curry School of Education produced realistic and versatile computer simulations that approximate life in actual classrooms for training preservice teachers. The project developed, tested, and disseminated these simulations on both fundamental teaching and classroom management skills. Without simulations, students preparing to teach experience limited direct interaction with pupils in classrooms. This is a frequent criticism of teacher training, especially as it pertains to entry-level education students, and one that this project set out to rectify.

Innovative Features:

Entry-level students use the simulated classrooms to translate their course knowledge about teaching into practical behaviors. Powerful learning concepts, such as reinforcement, feedback, and prompting, are coupled with realistic computer-controlled class interactions. Students assume the role of teacher with a class of simulated pupils. They practice the skills of how to control instructional time, how to question and respond to pupils, and how to manage disruptive classroom behaviors. The teacher-educator who uses the simulation as a training tool can preprogram any combination of target behaviors for an upcoming teaching session.

As with any simulation, its practical significance depends on how well the skills learned actually transfer to real-life settings; the closer the match between the real and simulated settings, the more likely the skills will transfer effectively. The simulations reside in easy-to-use menu-driven modules, run on standard IBM microcomputers. To heighten the environmental reality of a classroom, speech synthesis hardware was introduced to simulate direct dialog with computer pupils. The new voice technology allows this instant communication, a distinct advance over slower system operator responses.

Evaluation:

The simulation software produced a session-by-session customized record of performance, tracking students' comparative levels of teaching and behavior management proficiency. Through the use of these progress records, teacher-pupil interactions were reviewed following each lesson. A trained counselor noted those instructional actions that were effective and those that were not.

Extensive in-house testing of the modules took place in 11 separate studies, involving 342 education students and 34 experienced teachers. Analyses of performance changes attest to the simulation's effectiveness in teaching instructional and behavior management skills. The final test of the simulation's instructional value will come, however, with the evaluation of the transferability of skills to the classroom.

Between 1984 and 1987, field validation studies at several teacher preparation institutions also yielded promising results and support from key simulation users. Both the in-house and field testing assessments were used to create a final training package, complete with software and appropriate documentation.

Beyond behavioral changes, students' post-training ratings also confirm the simulation's impact. For example, 90% of the 1987 fall participants rated the simulations as very useful for beginning teachers.

Impact or Changes From Grant Activities:

Student proficiency in three teaching categories dramatically improved across the simulation training sessions, especially time management skills. When the first session was compared to the last, improvement ranged from 27% to 76% for different skills. Furthermore, follow-up records showed that, once trained, students maintained skills over several months. The novice teachers made such progress that their post-training scores came close to the pre-training scores of a group of experienced teachers.

A two-session study conducted the first year of the project was designed to assess the simulation's impact on training classroom management skills. Subjects in the experimental group received feedback on classroom management during the break between sessions. Subjects in the control group did not. While the subjects in both groups showed significant across-session decreases in inappropriate teacher interventions, the experimental subjects' decrease was much greater. (See Figure 2.)

SOURCE: "Training Classroom Management Skills," in Teacher Education and Special Education, Harold R. Strang, et. al., 9, 60, 1986, Copyright 1986 by Special Press. Used with permission of Special Press and the Teacher Education Division.

Results from another study suggest that the simulations exert a powerful influence, not only on learning fundamental teaching skills but also on participants' awareness of their own skills. For example, an analysis of self-reports suggests that participants greatly overestimated their skill proficiency after completing their first teaching session. But, by the last session, their self-perceptions had become more realistic and did not differ significantly from their actual performance. (See Figure 3.)

SOURCE: "Microcomputer-Based Simulations for Training Fundamental Teaching Skills," in Journal of Teacher Education, Harold R. Strang, et. al., January-February 25, 1987. Used with permission of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

What Do You Have To Send To Others?

A complete simulation training package available for $22 (the cost of materials and shipping only), includes:

• Three floppy disks containing necessary programs and files. The Program Disk houses both the feedback and lesson-pacing modules. It offers users immediate access to skill-training sessions, for creating end-of-session feedback records and for writing lessons. The user may tap the Word Pool Disk directly to create individualized lessons. The Lesson Disk contains several demonstration lesson and pupil characteristics files.
• Two user manuals, one to guide the user in setting up the system and operating a simulation training session, the other to prepare professionals to conduct post-training counseling.
• Journal articles, conference presentations and exhibits by the project director, describing different uses for the microcomputer-based simulation.

The simulation is a relatively inexpensive technology, easy to use and ready for export to all interested teacher-training institutions. It is an economically feasible way to reinforce several fundamental teaching skills by integrating them into academic programs, either as adjuncts to lectures or to field experiences.

To acquire any of the above materials, write to:
Harold R. Strang
Curry School of Education
Department of Educational Studies
University of VA
405 Emmet Street
Charlottesville, VA 22903
804-924-7471

What Has Happened To The Program Since The Grant Ended?

The simulation has become the key laboratory component of a basic learning and development course which all teaching majors complete during their studies at the Curry School of Education. At this date, several hundred students have received individualized simulation training in both instructional and behavior management skills.

The University of Virginia supported the continuation of the simulation project during the 1987-88 academic year. For the 1988-89 and 1989-90 academic years, funds are being provided by the Commonwealth Center for the Education of Teachers. Future research will focus on creating increasingly realistic and versatile simulations based on observational data from actual classrooms, improving the simulations' visual and auditory capacities, and further validating the technology.

During the past several years, eight institutions other than the University of Virginia have begun using the teaching simulations. They are:
Bowling Green University
Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education (Australia)
James Madison University
Lehigh University
Luther College
Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada)
University of Hawaii
University of Nebraska

In the spring of 1989, a new teaching simulation was created at the Curry School to accomplish many of the goals of its predecessors while appreciably reducing both hardware and system operator demands. Funds from a mini-grant awarded by the Commonwealth Center for the Education of Teachers allowed for the field testing of this simulation at four Virginia teacher-training sites during the 1989-90 school year.

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