Figure 1: Depiction of Virtual Avatar Orientating Students on the Topic of Assessment References Wong, E. M. L. (2023). Investigating the Influence of Motivational Strategies on Accounting Students’ Metacognitive Self-Regulated Learning: The Case of E-Flipped Classrooms. In Handbook of research on redesigning teaching, learning, and assessment in the digital era (pp. 106-122). IGI Global. Burce, A. D., & Callo, E. C. (2024). Flipped classroom strategy in promoting critical thinking in social science. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 22(2), 2111-2137. educators are expected to cover critical concepts, such as lesson planning, assessment (especially formative assessment), and effective use of inquirybased teaching strategies in South African science classrooms. The 45-minute sessions were insufficient to thoroughly explain these concepts, engage students fully, and require them to provide practical examples of applying the lecture content in real classroom settings, leading to a disconnect between lecture content and its application in actual classrooms. In response, a virtual avatar for asynchronous engagement with lecture content was developed. The goal was to allow PSTs to interact with the avatar before lecture time, thereby using the lecture period for active and critical engagement with the content. During the lecture period, PSTs are now expected to demonstrate how they would incorporate these strategies in a real classroom context, receive immediate feedback from the lecturer and peers, and learn from the diverse ideas shared by other students. Prof Umesh Ramnarain, the Director of CALTSTEAM and also a professor in science education, recognises the importance of this innovation in transforming teacher education. He comments as follows: “This is a signification project at the research centre because we are developing an important resource that teacher educators in the country can use to create an interactive and dynamic learning environment that encourages their students to actively participate in their learning. This can lead to improved student outcomes.” Although similar services already exist, some caveats should be considered before the implementation of these services in a South African pedagogy. Services such as Synthesia.io give users the ability to create life-like avatars. However, this comes at an expense of US$29 per month for 10 minutes’ worth of video. Such services also have limited personalisation functions, especially when creating content for viewers in the global South. “We opted to embrace our South African heritage with an array of South African avatars that speak with a South African accent. Furthermore, the service that we are developing aims to keep the costs of generating videos low – this means that we will never be as life-like as some of the other services, but we would be able to empower more educators who are teaching in resource-limited environments” said Dr Herman Myburgh (Head: MRU) during a recent interview. “The aim is to empower educators with tools that are AI-enabled, but now so much so that the cost becomes an unsurmountable mountain”. “As such, our next steps would be to make these avatars available in other South African languages as well”. Integrating the virtual avatarsenhanced flipped classroom approach in science teacher education programs has a potential to demonstrate significant potential in transforming traditional instructional methods. Giving science pre-service teachers opportunities to actively engage with virtual simulations before and during the class time, the flipped classroom approach fosters deeper understanding and application of scientific concepts and fosters an interactive and personalized learning environment that supports diverse learning styles, collaboration and enhanced engagement. This project highlights the effectiveness of virtual avatars in creating an immersive educational experience and preparing future science educators to better navigate the complexities of teaching abstract scientific concepts. While the project is still in progress, the researchers plan to conduct research that aims at exploring the long-term impacts, stability, and the integration of currently cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence into the virtual avatars’ framework. Expanding on this work and using research to provide adequate information regarding virtual avatars could lead to more adaptive, student-centered educational environments that could reshape science teacher education. Teaching Innovation for the 21st Century | Showcasing UJ Teaching Innovation Projects 2024 63
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