Games and Simulations in Teacher Education

This book includes more than twenty computer games and simulations for use in teacher training.  Each of these simulations is innovative and presents an opportunity for pre-service teachers to have hands-on experience in an area of need prior to teaching in the classroom. Information on the simulation origins, including theoretical underpinnings, goals, characteristics, relevant research/program evaluation results, discussion of benefits and limitations as well as dissemination, recommended use, scope of practice, etc. of each game or simulation are included.  Pre-service and new teachers will gain a number of useful skills through completion of these simulations and higher education faculty and administrators will gain a plethora of research-based and effective training tools for use in their teacher training programs. 

Dr. Elizabeth Bradley is an Associate Professor in the School for Graduate Studies at SUNY Empire State College. She received her Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and she is a licensed psychologist and nationally certified as a school psychologist. Prior to teaching at Empire State College, Dr. Bradley worked as a school psychologist and conducted research in the areas of substance use interventions, child neuropsychology, and school-based interventions for at risk youth. Over the past five years, Dr. Bradley’s research focus has been on the use of online simulations in pre-service teacher training. More specifically, Dr. Bradley has investigated the use of simulations for teacher training in the areas of classroom management, identifying at-risk students, supporting LGBTQ students, and bullying prevention. Her most recent five journal publications have been on topics related to the use of computer simulations in teacher education. In addition, ten of her recent conference presentations have been on the topic of computer simulations in teacher education. Dr. Bradley was recently awarded a SUNY grant to locate and evaluate computer simulations in teacher education. Dr. Bradley will conduct this research during the 2018-2019 academic year and plans to reach out to simulation creators and publishers to make connections, collect information to be included in the repository, and invite them to author a chapter in this book. The audience for this book includes higher education faculty and administrators in the area of teacher training. Students pursuing degrees in teaching would also benefit from this book, as they can find games and simulations to practice their teaching skills and become more confident before entering the classroom.