Assessing Complex Skills in a Virtual Reality Context: Capturing the Development of Pre-Service Teachers’ Classroom Management Strategies

Simulation-based learning environments such as virtual reality (VR) can be promising to help pre-service teachers develop kindergarten-specific classroom management strategies. However, the successful integration of VR in higher education is impeded by limitations regarding the assessment of multifaceted skills such as classroom management strategies. In this paper, we aimed to understand how different assessment instruments lead to aligning or diverging conclusions regarding pre-service teachers’ VR-supported over-time development of classroom management strategies in terms of behaviors and beliefs. With a variety of self-reported and observational measures, we gauged distinct aspects of pre-service teachers’ classroom management strategies conceptualized as behaviors and beliefs at two time points: before and after practicing in a VR kindergarten classroom. Most measures captured an over-time development of behaviors and beliefs—except for pre-service teachers’ self-reported usage of classroom management strategies. Alignment was observed between measures gauging pre-service teachers’ classroom management strategies beliefs and between most, but not all, measures of classroom management strategies behaviors: Pre-service teachers’ self-reported usage of classroom management strategies do not align with the observations of strategy usage. Our findings emphasize the importance of using multiple instruments to capture, assess, and appraise VR-supported development of distinct aspects of pre-service teachers’ kindergarten-specific classroom management strategies.