| This mixed methods research study explored the impact of the simSchool Simulator on self-efficacy when used to supplement a field experience component in a senior level mathematics class for elementary education majors. Relationships between personality traits and self-efficacy and between learning styles and self-efficacy were explored.;Quantitative data were collected with pre and posttests of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), the OCEAN Online (personality) Survey, and a Learning Styles Inventory. Qualitative data were collected using interviews and an open-ended questionnaire.;The TSES pre and post means were compared using a paired t-test to determine the impact of simSchool on overall teacher self-efficacy, classroom management self-efficacy, instructional strategy self-efficacy, and student engagement self-efficacy. The decrease in the self-efficacy mean of student engagement was found to be statistically significant.;The change in each self-efficacy category was calculated for each participant by subtracting his/her pretest mean from his/her posttest mean. The OCEAN Online Survey was scored to measure the degree of the five personality traits of the participants, openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. A correlation matrix between participants' changes in self-efficacy and their personality traits revealed no statistically significant findings; however, an analysis of trends suggested that conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism might be related to changes in overall self-efficacy. The Learning Styles Inventory was scored to measure the percent that participants were visual, auditory, and/or kinesthetic learners. A correlation matrix between participants' changes in self-efficacy and their learning styles revealed no statistically significant findings; however, further analysis suggested that a learner with a mixture of auditory and visual preferences might have the best chance of showing an increase in self-efficacy due to using simSchool.;Participants also answered an open-ended questionnaire and nine of those participants were interviewed. It was found that through simSchool, participants had increased awareness in learner differences, classroom management, lesson planning, realistic expectations, teacher reflection, student behaviors, and learning styles in classroom instruction.;This research may illuminate ways to help novice teachers enter the profession more aware of what they might encounter in their own classrooms. |
