Formative Research on Designing Virtual Experiential Deliberate Practice for Pre-service Teachers’ Skill Development
Abstract: Formative research is used to explore designing a holistic virtual learning experience for pre-service teachers. Experiential deliberate practice is used as a framework for designing and implementing instruction through asynchronous and synchronous learning platforms. Data were gathered through surveys, focus-group interviews, observations, and meeting minutes of discussions on the development and implementation of the program. Themes that emerged to guide the design of the virtual program using experiential deliberate practice included feedback, discrete skill practice, distributed and repeated practice, authentic scenarios, thoroughly designed self-learning modules, and the use of a rubric for feedback and reflection. The holistic program design fostered practice-based experiences with skill development to prepare pre-service teachers for real classroom experiences.