A Field Experience without the Field: A Reflective Self-study of Teaching an Elementary Science Field Experience Online During a Pandemic

Abstract

Teaching a field experience course during a pandemic resulted in unique challenges because preservice teachers could not visit classrooms like they would in a traditional field experience. This article is a self-study exploration of the tensions experienced by a doctoral student teaching an elementary math and science field experience in a fully online setting during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. To substitute for a lack of available elementary school children, preservice teacher acted as substitutes for children during lesson rehearsals. Preservice teachers were usually poor substitutes for actual children when evaluating the extent to which the pandemic field experience mimicked traditional field experience. Instructional videos were frequently used in an attempt to provide meaningful opportunities for preservice teachers to engage in classroom practices. The perceived usefulness of instructional videos by preservice videos varied based on the type of video that was used.