Over the years, there have been many efforts to enhance and motivate the transfer of learning from pre-service teacher education to application for classroom teaching practice. The efforts include to shift the focus from knowledge acquisition to practice-based approach and much of teacher preparation is moving online and even virtual environment, which was accelerated by COVID-19. In this study, the IUSE teach-to-avatar practice sessions provided the opportunity for pre-service STEM teachers to engage in the experiential deliberate practice of questioning and discussion skills in a virtual environment. The participants experienced teaching a STEM lesson in a virtual simulation to avatar students. This video will present the process of the teach-to-avatar practice and the major instructional strategies implemented in the practice session. More importantly, the video will also share the real stories from those who participated in the IUSE teach-to-avatar practice sessions and currently teach classes about how they transferred what they have learned from the practice sessions to actual classroom practice.

NSF Awards: 2020972

Presented in: 2022 (see original presentation & discussion)

Grade Level: Undergraduate