Teacher candidates’ views of a multi‐user virtual environment (MUVE)

Multi‐user virtual environments (MUVEs) are new to formal educational settings as teaching and learning tools but are growing in popularity. MUVEs simulate real‐world problems. They have an ability to reach students in ways that are familiar as they resemble videogames where players assume roles, work in teams, and gather data. MUVEs include appealing features that allow for real‐time variable manipulation to help reach responses to posed problems. However, are they within beginner teachers’ ability to execute within the classroom? This article documents the experiences of third‐year teacher candidates when immersed in one virtual environment designed at Harvard University to meet national middle school science content standards.

[1]  Andrew Trotter School Subtracts Math Texts to Add E-Lessons, Tests. , 2007 .

[2]  Joseph O'Brien,et al.  Learning Generation: Fostering Innovation with Tomorrow’s Teachers and Technology , 2005 .

[3]  David R. Krathwohl,et al.  Methods of Educational and Social Science Research: An Integrated Approach , 1992 .

[4]  Kara Dawson,et al.  When curriculum-based, technology-enhanced field experiences and teacher inquiry coalesce: An opportunity for conceptual change? , 2007, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[5]  Vicki L. Cohen Learning Styles and Technology in a Ninth-Grade High School Population , 2001 .

[6]  D. Ketelhut The Impact of Student Self-efficacy on Scientific Inquiry Skills: An Exploratory Investigation in River City, a Multi-user Virtual Environment , 2007 .

[7]  James Paul Gee,et al.  What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy , 2007, CIE.

[8]  J. Bransford How people learn , 2000 .

[9]  B. Joyce,et al.  The Evolution of Peer Coaching , 1996 .

[10]  B. Joyce,et al.  Models of Teaching , 2024 .

[11]  Colleen Swain Preservice Teachers Self-Assessment Using Technology: Determining What Is Worthwhile and Looking for Changes in Daily Teaching and Learning Practices , 2006 .

[12]  V. Rideout,et al.  Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds , 2010 .

[13]  Nick DeKanter,et al.  Gaming redefines interactivity for learning , 2004 .

[14]  Charlene O'Hanlon,et al.  Gaming: Eat Breakfast, Drink Milk, Play Xbox. , 2007 .

[15]  J. C. Herz,et al.  Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds , 1997 .

[16]  J. Creswell Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. , 1998 .

[17]  John F. Bauer A Technology Gender Divide: Perceived Skill and Frustration Levels among Female Preservice Teachers. , 2000 .

[18]  J. Gee,et al.  How Computer Games Help Children Learn , 2006 .

[19]  John C. Beck,et al.  Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever , 2004 .

[20]  Jerry Willis,et al.  Educational Computing: Learning with Tomorrow's Technologies , 1992 .

[21]  Xenophon Koufteros,et al.  Confirmatory Analysis of Computer Self-Efficacy , 2003 .

[22]  Gerald Girod,et al.  Exploring the Efficacy of the Cook School District Simulation , 2006 .

[23]  Jonathan R. Anderson The Relationship Between Student Perceptions of Team Dynamics and Simulation Game Outcomes: An Individual-Level Analysis , 2005 .

[24]  Susan A. Yoon,et al.  Developing games and simulations for today and tomorrow’s tech savvy youth , 2005 .

[25]  Vahid Motamedi,et al.  Predicting Preservice Teacher Competence in Computer Technology: Modeling and Application in Training Environments , 2007 .

[26]  K. Squire From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience , 2006 .

[27]  A. Bandura Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory , 1985 .

[28]  Briant J. Farnsworth,et al.  Preparing tomorrow's teachers to use technology: attitudinal impacts of technology-supported field experience on pre-service teacher candidates , 2004 .

[29]  Melissa Erlene Pierson,et al.  Technology Integration Practice as a Function of Pedagogical Expertise , 2001 .

[30]  James J. Kirk An Unofficial Guide to Web-Based Instructional Gaming and Simulation Resources. , 2001 .

[31]  Mark van 't Hooft,et al.  Inquiry-Based Instruction Through Handheld-Based Science Activities: Preservice Teachers’ Attitude and Self-Efficacy , 2006 .

[32]  Ann L. Brown,et al.  How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. , 1999 .

[33]  Charoula Angeli,et al.  Transforming a teacher education method course through technology: effects on preservice teachers' technology competency , 2005, Comput. Educ..

[34]  Jillian Kinzie,et al.  Creating Learning Centered Classrooms. What Does Learning Theory Have To Say? ERIC Digest. , 1998 .

[35]  George Beekman Computer Confluence , 1996 .

[36]  Margaret Pope,et al.  Enhancing Technology Use in Student Teaching: A Case Study , 2005 .

[37]  Clark Aldrich,et al.  Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences , 2005 .

[38]  Susan Gibson Incorporating Computer-Based Learning Into Preservice Education Courses , 2002 .