Learning to Conduct Controversial Issue Discussions Through Mixed-Reality Simulations (Poster 20)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Evaluating Social Studies Teaching and Learning (San Diego)

Abstract

While substantial scholarship has documented how controversial issue discussions have both academic and democratic benefits for students, little research has examined how teachers are prepared and learn to facilitate these discussions effectively. This paper draws on a pilot study of eight pre-service elementary teachers who participated in mixed-reality simulations (MRS) of facilitating discussions of climate change-related public policy. Findings suggest that the mixed-reality simulations provided pre-service teachers with important opportunities for pedagogical learning and reflection. This study has implications for how teacher educators prepare pre-service teachers to conceptualize, plan, and execute controversial issue discussions in the classroom, especially at the elementary level and in a broadly partisan and contentious political climate.

Authors

• Rebecca Cooper Geller, University of Georgia

• Jamie D. Gravell, California State University - Stanislaus

• Amy Richardson, Southern Methodist University

• Stacy Ann Strang, Southern Methodist University