Jennifer Russo
(315) 443-4751
Benjamin H. Dotger, assistant professor in Teaching and Leadership Programs in the School of Education, has been awarded a $449,898 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his project titled “The Science and Mathematics Simulated Interaction Model (SIM).” The SIM will design and clinically test simulations to prepare pre-service and early-career mathematics and science teachers through live one-to-one interactions with standardized individuals (SI’s) who are trained to present distinct mathematics or science problems, questions or dilemmas that teachers may encounter in the field. Dotger plans to begin work late this summer along with project team members Professor Joanna Masingila (mathematics education), assistant professors Sharon Dotger and Jeffrey Rozelle (science teaching).
Dotger and his team will develop eight different simulated interactions to focus on common issues that mathematics and science teachers encounter at the secondary level (grades 9-12). Similar to medical education’s use of standardized patients, the SIM’s standardized individuals are local actors who are carefully trained and scripted. Each teacher’s simulation is immediately followed by an individual debriefing and a written improvement plan. The eight content specific simulations will be designed to identify strengths and misconceptions in teachers’ understanding of content and pedagogy, increase teachers’ instructional capacity and advance student achievement.
“Live simulations challenge novice teachers to translate ‘what they know’ into ‘what they can do,’” Dotger says. “My colleagues and I are excited about the possibilities of this SIM grant because it will allow us to investigate what novice math and science teachers actually say and do when teaching students.”
Initially, the SIM will be implemented within the School of Education. SIM products, processes, and all findings will be made available to all education researchers and teacher educators through password-protected digital access. The SIM’s problem-based methodology challenges novice teachers to enact content and pedagogy, while also helping researchers to accurately and meaningfully assess teacher strengths and misconceptions in mathematics and science.
Dotger says, “This data, gathered through a methodology that places novice teachers in immediate, demanding and authentic situations, holds the potential to yield broader understandings of how novice science and mathematics teachers are transferring the content and pedagogy learned within teacher preparation into teacher practice.”
June 05, 2012 The program, designed in collaboration with the Casting Society of America, was developed for casting students, including key professional components and core courses with fellow Tepper students.
Read more
August 24, 2012 Natalie Teale, a senior Earth sciences and geography major in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, spent the summer as part of an immersive research experience in the cloud forest of Costa Rica.
Read more
September 13, 2012 Syracuse University today announced that it has surpassed its goal for the most ambitious fundraising effort in the institution’s history.
Read more
September 10, 2012 Civil engineering professor Cliff Davidson had a breathtaking view of the City of Syracuse from a rooftop garden recently. But it’s the possibilities of that prime location that made the experience memorable.
Read more
September 10, 2012 Trauma, psychiatric medications, family therapy, nutrition and systems reform are a sampling of the topics experts from across the country will discuss at the Children’s Mental Health Summit, September 27-29 in Syracuse.
Read more
