Statewide Reading Research Center (Simmer Up with Kentucky Reading Research Center)

Abstract: Practice-based experiences such as microteaching provide opportunities for pre and in service teachers to rehearse content and practice instructional strategies before they engage P-12 learners in clinical ?eld placements (Kamman et al., 2014). To microteach, the pre and in service teacher plans a lesson and teaches it while the instructor provides coaching and feedback. Mixed virtual reality (MVR) simulations allow the opportunity to practice pedagogy in a unique format during these microteaching opportunities. The MVR format is a virtual classroom with avatar students controlled by a trained actor (Dieker et al., 2014b). Predesigned sessions serve as microteaching opportunities and allow the pre and in service teacher to practice in a safe environment with instructor support by way of coaching and immediate feedback during the interaction. During the simulation, the pre and in service teacher can practice a single skill multiple times until mastery because the simulation can be paused and re-started. The extraneous variables that occur during microteaching with peers and in clinical ?eld placements are controlled during simulations providing consistency across opportunities. Each participant practices the same teacher behaviors in the same setting with the same students who respond in the same manner. The proposed research will signi?cantly contribute to the current research base on practice-based opportunities through determining the e ectiveness of using MVR simulations. There is evidence supporting well-developed practice-based opportunities as necessary in preparing pre and in service teachers to be ready for the classroom (Reisman et al., 2018), but there little is known regarding the value-added nature of using MVR simulations as these practice-based opportunities.