The development of a simulation technique for use by secondary school administrators

The purpose of the study was to develop a pilot simulation package for use by secondary school administrators. Included in the package were video tapes of critical incidents about beginning secondary teachers, background information about the setting for the incidents, problem solving forms, and the reaction of a panel of experts to the critical incidents. The procedures used in the study included the following: conducting a survey in search of critical incidents, selecting nine critical incidents to be video taped, writing scripts, video taping the nine critical incidents, selecting a panel of experts to provide model responses to. each of the critical incidents, testing the simulation package of materials in a secondary school administration class at Ball State Unim versity, evaluating the use of the simulation package, presenting and analyzing the data collected, presenting the findings and conclusions, and presenting the supplementary simulation materials used in the study. The data collected in the study were analyzed in the following categories: the reality of the role of the principal, the perception of the problem of new teacher orientation, the effect of the simulation on the participants' preparation to help new teachers, the transfer of learning to the real environment, the motivational value of the complete simulation experience, the general impression regarding this simulation experience, the degree of help provided by various experiences during simulation, the motivational value of the video tapes, the priority of new teacher orientation, the interest and value of the video taped incidents, the value of simulation as a teaching technique, time for consideration of the incidents, the degree of adequacy of the background information, the degree of adequacy of the introductory information, suggestions for improvement, and additional suggestions for the use of the simulation package. The conclusions of the study were as follows: 1. Participant perception of the overall problem of new teacher orientation was enhanced through participation in the simulation experience. 2. The group interaction experiences were considered the most valuable experiences during simulation. 3. Concern for new teacher orientation and supervision may be increased through the use of simulation. 4. New teacher orientation was considered a high priority item in the preparation of educational administrators. 5. The video taped incidents that ranked the highest in interest to the participants presented relatively difficult problems to solve, and the incidents that ranked the lowest in interest to the participants presented problems that were elementary. 6. The educational administrators supported the use of simulation as an instructional method, and they requested more information about the role of the principal and the teachers involved. 7. Video tapes, which were inexpensively developed and tested, were considered a worthwhile part of the simulation by the participants. The recommendations for further study were as follows: 1. This simulation package should be used with other administrators in workshops or in other learning situations in order to validate or reject the findings of this study. 2. This study should be followed up to determine whether or not there has been any transfer in learning to actual administrative performance on-the-job. 3. The possibility of adapting the simulation materials or approach of this study for use with college students prior to and during their student teaching experience should be considered.Thesis (D. Ed.