Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons Learned
This paper describes and evaluates student teachers’ virtual simulation training on teaching a controversial issue. In the fourth year of their program to become social science teachers at lower and upper secondary schools, 43 student teachers in Sweden conducted simulation teaching on conspiracy th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The International Academic Forum
2023-08-01
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| Series: | IAFOR Journal of Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-education/volume-11-issue-2/article-3/ |
| _version_ | 1797682003364020224 |
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| author | Per-Olof Hansson Marcus Samuelsson Marie-Louise Höög |
| author_facet | Per-Olof Hansson Marcus Samuelsson Marie-Louise Höög |
| author_sort | Per-Olof Hansson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper describes and evaluates student teachers’ virtual simulation training on teaching a controversial issue. In the fourth year of their program to become social science teachers at lower and upper secondary schools, 43 student teachers in Sweden conducted simulation teaching on conspiracy theories as an example of a controversial issue. Conspiracy theories appeal to young people and they often encounter these theories online, but they can be met with increased knowledge about how conspiracy theories work, and how they can be identified and countered. Thus, students at primary and secondary school need to develop their critical source skills. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate (2022) found that these issues were not properly taught because they were not connected to schools’ values-based work or to the development of students’ democratic competence. To analyze the simulation teaching, data was collected through observations, video-recorded simulation teaching, interviews with student teachers, and reflective documents. The results show that simulation teaching offers student teachers the opportunity to integrate content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and subject knowledge, by being trained to become flexible and responsive to avatars’ individual differences as well as their different attitudes and understanding of the subject. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:53:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-850c66cf87434cc8ad72cde9cb5c556b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2187-0594 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:53:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | The International Academic Forum |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IAFOR Journal of Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-850c66cf87434cc8ad72cde9cb5c556b2023-09-19T02:25:21ZengThe International Academic ForumIAFOR Journal of Education2187-05942023-08-01112617810.22492/ije.11.2.03Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons LearnedPer-Olof Hansson0Marcus Samuelsson1Marie-Louise Höög2Linköping University, SwedenLinköping University, SwedenLinköping University, SwedenThis paper describes and evaluates student teachers’ virtual simulation training on teaching a controversial issue. In the fourth year of their program to become social science teachers at lower and upper secondary schools, 43 student teachers in Sweden conducted simulation teaching on conspiracy theories as an example of a controversial issue. Conspiracy theories appeal to young people and they often encounter these theories online, but they can be met with increased knowledge about how conspiracy theories work, and how they can be identified and countered. Thus, students at primary and secondary school need to develop their critical source skills. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate (2022) found that these issues were not properly taught because they were not connected to schools’ values-based work or to the development of students’ democratic competence. To analyze the simulation teaching, data was collected through observations, video-recorded simulation teaching, interviews with student teachers, and reflective documents. The results show that simulation teaching offers student teachers the opportunity to integrate content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and subject knowledge, by being trained to become flexible and responsive to avatars’ individual differences as well as their different attitudes and understanding of the subject. https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-education/volume-11-issue-2/article-3/conspiracy theoriescontroversial issuessimulation teachingstudent teachersvirtual practice |
| spellingShingle | Per-Olof Hansson Marcus Samuelsson Marie-Louise Höög Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons Learned IAFOR Journal of Education conspiracy theories controversial issues simulation teaching student teachers virtual practice |
| title | Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons Learned |
| title_full | Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons Learned |
| title_fullStr | Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons Learned |
| title_full_unstemmed | Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons Learned |
| title_short | Teaching Avatars on Controversial Issues: Lessons Learned |
| title_sort | teaching avatars on controversial issues lessons learned |
| topic | conspiracy theories controversial issues simulation teaching student teachers virtual practice |
| url | https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-education/volume-11-issue-2/article-3/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT perolofhansson teachingavatarsoncontroversialissueslessonslearned AT marcussamuelsson teachingavatarsoncontroversialissueslessonslearned AT marielouisehoog teachingavatarsoncontroversialissueslessonslearned |