Do Teacher Undergraduates Recognize the Academic Self-Concept in Student's Statements? University Course Effects on Judgement Accuracy in the Virtual Classroom

Research results indicate the academic self-concept (ASC) as a predictor of students' later academic achievements. Therefore, teachers should have knowledge about the ASC and recognize low or high levels of ASC in student's statements during a teaching situation. We assumed a university course unit affects teaching undergraduates' judgment accuracy regarding the ASC of virtual simulated students based on interactions with them. We tested our assumption by a two-group-prae-posttest-design including N=56 teaching undergraduates in the first year at university. They were assigned to an experimental or a waiting control group (one of two educational-psychological courses). In one course appointment, the experimental group discussed cases involving judging student's ASC in classes. The results indicated accurate judgements in favor of the experimental group. Thus, the Virtual Classroom is an appropriate instrument to test effects of a university course on judgement accuracy We discuss applications in training and evaluation of teacher education.