Virtual School: Learning to Teach Physics in a Virtual Community of Practice
10.3280/exioa2-2023oa16807
This research explores the impact a Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) within the international Virtual School pilot project aimed at providing future secondary-school physics teachers with authentic teaching experiences. The Virtual School serves as a platform to connect future teachers with real schools and pupils, creating a unique educational environment to develop professional identity and competencies. This paper reports on part of the project engaging eight preservice or early-career teachers, two mentors, three researchers, and forty-eight secondary school pupils. Pre and post semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data, exploring the participants’ experiences and perceptions. The findings reveal significant impacts of the VCoP on the understanding of professional identity and the disciplinary teacher practices of participants. By participating in this digital community, they have developed expertise, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-classroom dynamics. This study highlights the potential of VCoPs to shape the training of secondary-school physics teachers, offering new avenues for teacher education in the digital age.
application/pdf
2499-507X
16807
2
en
Marta Carli
Excellence and Innovation in Learning and Teaching - Open Access
Professional identity
Virtual School: Learning to Teach Physics in a Virtual Community of Practice
Text.Serial.Journal
https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/exioa
8
Saggi e ricerche
2023-12-13
2023-11-17
2023-12-13
2023-12-13
EXIOA
Marta Carli
2023/12/13
10.3280/exioa2-2023oa16807
University of Padova
2499-507X
2
Professional identity
en
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A guide to Managing Knowledge. Harvard Business School.
Virtual School: Learning to Teach Physics in a Virtual Community of Practice
https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/exioa/article/download/16807/2574
8
Saggi e ricerche

Virtual School: Learning to Teach Physics in a
Virtual Community of Practice

Ottavia Trevisan*, Marta Carli^




Abstract
This research explores the impact a Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP)
within the international Virtual School pilot project aimed at providing future
secondary-school physics teachers with authentic teaching experiences. The
Virtual School serves as a platform to connect future teachers with real schools
and pupils, creating a unique educational environment to develop professional
identity and competencies. This paper reports on part of the project engaging
eight preservice or early-career teachers, two mentors, three researchers, and
forty-eight secondary school pupils. Pre and post semi-structured interviews
were employed to collect data, exploring the participants’ experiences and
perceptions. The findings reveal significant impacts of the VCoP on the
understanding of professional identity and the disciplinary teacher practices of
participants. By participating in this digital community, they have developed
expertise, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-classroom
dynamics. This study highlights the potential of VCoPs to shape the training of
secondary-school physics teachers, offering new avenues for teacher education
in the digital age.
Keywords: teacher education, virtual community of practice, teaching physics,
teacher competences, professional identity.

Article submitted: 20/09/2023; accepted 08/11/2023
Available online: 13/12/2023

*
  Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology Department, University of
Padova, e-mail: ottavia.trevisan@unipd.it.
^
  Physics Department, University of Padova, e-mail: marta.carli.1@unipd.it.
Le autrici confermano di aver equamente contribuito alla presente pubblicazione. Per
doveri di attribuzione puramente formale, si consideri M. Carli come primaria autrice
dei paragrafi 2, 4.1, 6, 7; e O. Trevisan come primaria autrice di 1, 3, 4, 4.2, 5.

Excellence and Innovation in Learning and Teaching (ISSNe 2499-507X), 2023, 2

Doi: 10.3280/exioa2-2023oa16807
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
Introduction

   Having a good education enhances young members of society’s
employment opportunities as well as their overall health and wellbeing
(Redecker, 2017). Education should be equally accessible to each and every
student, regardless of their cultural or socioeconomic background.
Unfortunately, educational disadvantage is a significant problem (Fullan,
2020), which the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic boosted across all levels.
Students’ difficulties were intensified by limited interactions with teachers and
peers, and by the loss of the benefits of practical work, which impacts the
quality of STEM teaching and learning (Bjurholt & Bøe, 2023). The Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) field is particularly
vulnerable as many students struggled in these subjects even before the
pandemic (e.g., O’Brien, 2021). This is a relevant problem throughout all levels
of education, as incoming preparation has been shown to be a major predictor
of students’ performance in STEM university courses, especially in Physics
(Burkholder et al., 2022).
   On the other hand, many teachers described valuable experiences gained
from online teaching that they would incorporate into their regular teaching.
These include home experiments, demonstrations, and simulation tools such as
PhET simulations. These innovative practices have the potential to enhance
STEM education, provided that teachers are provided with adequate resources
and platforms for exchanging expertise within the physics teaching community
(Bjurholt & Bøe, 2023). Tens of millions of students are enrolled in fully virtual
schools around the world (Fullan, 2020) indicating that online teaching and
learning and the related teacher education are a necessity that will persist.
   The Virtual School (VS) project originated in Australia, by the Monash
University, in 2020. Due to the pandemic restrictions, ensuring future teachers
the possibility to gain experience in the field by means of a teaching placement
has been particularly challenging (Fullan, 2020). The Virtual School project
aimed to transform this challenge into an opportunity by engaging preservice
teachers in virtual internships targeted at supporting disadvantaged high school
students. In 2022, the VS project was adapted to the Italian context thanks to a
joint seed funding project between Monash University and the University of
Padua (Authors Phillips et al., 2023). In the context of UniPD, a small Virtual
Community of Practice of preservice and early-career physics teachers was set
up, with the shared domain of interest being the design and delivery of online
physics lessons for high-school students. This paper focuses on the Italian pilot
with the underlying research question of how this experience might support the
development of participants’ professional identity as physics teachers.


                                           6
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
Theoretical background

2.1 Teacher communities of practice

    The term “community of practice” was coined by J. Lave and E. Wenger
while studying apprenticeship as a learning model (Lave and Wenger, 1991).
According to the definition by Wenger (2002, p.4), communities of practice
(CoPs) are “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something
they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly”. CoPs are
characterized by three fundamental elements: a common domain of interest; a
community, substantiated by the relationships and interactions among the
members; and the practice, consisting in a shared repertoire of resources,
knowledge, and experiences. They can accommodate members with different
levels of expertise and degrees of participation (Wenger, 2002).
    CoPs have been identified as one of the most effective professional
development frameworks also in the context of teacher training. Successful
teacher CoPs can have positive impacts on teaching practice and student
achievement (Vangrieken et al., 2017). While CoPs are useful for both
preservice and in-service teacher training, we focus here on their value for
preservice and early-career teachers. These two phases of a teacher’s career are,
in fact, strictly connected, as novice teachers need support during their
transition from initial teacher education to their actual engagement in the
profession (Wei et al., 2021; Etkina, 2010). The need for such support becomes
even more pronounced in the present historical and social context,
characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (Hadar et
al., 2020). CoPs can afford early-career teachers with opportunities to engage
in three key processes: representation of practice (envisioning teaching
activities while eliciting decision-making processes); decomposition of practice
(opportunities of breaking down the complexity of teaching activities) and
approximation of practice (acting out the practice of teaching in a controlled
way and experiencing productive failure – see Kavanagh et al., 2020).
Furthermore, CoPs can offer occasions of interaction between novice and
expert teachers, which have proved to be very important to shape teachers’
identity (McLaughlan, 2021; Kirkby et al., 2018).
    The notion of CoP has been extended to the virtual context, serving as a
conceptual framework for studying online networks of teachers (Ghamrawi,
2021). Virtual CoPs (VCoPs) have become even more popular after the Covid-
19 pandemic. In organizing and facilitating VCoPs, the differences between
online settings and face-to-face settings - mainly in terms of interactions that
are fostered - must be considered (McLaughlan, 2021). Nevertheless,
participating in VCoPs has been reported to lead to better teaching practices,

                                           7
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
especially related to remote teaching (Ulla & Perales, 2021; Ghamrawi, 2021).
VCoPs have been described also in the context of physics teacher training (e.g.,
Nadeau et al., 2020).

2.2 CoPs for preservice and early-career physics teacher education

    CoPs as a key component of initial and early-career teacher training are
supported also in the context of STEM and specifically of physics (Etkina et
al., 2010; Etkina et al., 2017).
    Physics teachers are part of a disciplinary culture characterized by
transmissive teaching methods, abstracted content, overcrowded curriculum,
and high complexity (Frågåt et al., 2021; Etkina et al., 2017). Consequently,
they need opportunities to engage with student-centered practices, informed by
the findings of Physics Education Research (PER) (Frågåt et al., 2021; Fischer
& Kauertz, 2021; Milner-Bolotin, 2018). These opportunities are met in teacher
training programs that encompass three elements (Etkina et al., 2017):
 Apprenticeship-based practice, involving brief teaching tasks followed by
    opportunities for reflection.
 Coursework focussed on the teaching and learning of physics.
 Nurturing from a rich and diverse community of practice, involving
    experienced teachers, faculty, and previous graduates in the program.
    Being in such a community increases the likelihood that future teachers are
socialized into the profession in an environment that fosters good habits (Etkina
et al., 2017), empowers them as reflective practitioners (Criswell et al., 2018),
and reinforces physics teacher identity.
    The lens of identity has been used in the literature to frame and examine
instances of novice physics teachers implementing good practice (e.g., Wei et
al., 2021). It is a comprehensive construct shaped by the interplay of
knowledge, skills, beliefs, and dispositions. It is determined by three main
factors (Avraamidou, 2014):
 Personal: personal histories, beliefs, emotions, and attitudes.
 Social: the relationships within the different professional communities to
    which the teacher belongs, including both the scientific community
    (physicists) and the physics teachers’ community.
 Situational: the contexts in which physics teachers operate (e.g., teacher
    training programs) and their features.
    It is therefore important to consider both the teachers’ individual
dispositions and trajectories, the communities in which they are involved, and
the type of experiences they are exposed to.



                                           8
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
    The formation of a physics teacher identity entails shaping an idea of what
it means to be a “good” science teacher (Avraamidou, 2014). This not only
drives teachers’ actions but also prepares them for lifelong learning (Etkina et
al., 2017). Findings in the literature suggest that novice teachers tend to
highlight dimensions related to content transmission and, to some extent,
pedagogical elements (Salazar López & Nardi, 2021; Frågåt et al., 2021).
Notably, those with limited classroom experience tend to place less emphasis
on the role of relationships, and internships can be decisive in reshaping their
perspective (Salazar López & Nardi, 2021). These findings underscore the need
for teacher training programs that effectively integrate science content
knowledge with pedagogical knowledge, providing teachers with collaborative
spaces for professional development rooted in research.

2.3 Identity and Epistemic Frame Theory

    Among the different ways of understanding and studying teachers’ identity,
in this work we adopt Epistemic Frame Theory (EFT). EFT was proposed by
Shaffer (2006a) to describe the pattern of associations among skills, knowledge,
and other cognitive elements that characterize groups of people who share
similar ways of framing, investigating, and solving complex problems. These
elements can be understood as the components of an "epistemic frame”
(Shaffer, 2006a).
    The concept of “frame” was developed by Goffman (1974) to indicate a set
of organizational principles that structure our perception of what is happening
and is important during an activity. The term “epistemic” is grounded in
Perkins’ (1992) description of epistemology as “knowledge and know-how
concerning justification and explanation” (p. 85). Shaffer (2006b) extends this
notion defining epistemology as “a particular way of thinking about or
justifying actions, of structuring valid claims” (p. 32). Epistemology is domain-
specific, as students of different subjects belong to different subcultures and
may differ in their attitudes toward teaching (Grossmann & Stodolsky, 1995).
    Online teaching encompasses a series of roles and competencies, that are
arguably underpinned by combinations of the elements of an epistemic frame
(e.g., Boettcher & Conrad, 2021; Cleveland-Innes, 2019; O'Brien & Fuller,
2018). The roles and competencies identified by the literature can be
summarized into nine dimensions:
1. Teacher as content deliverer (Boettcher & Conrad, 2021).
2. Teacher as relationship manager (Cleveland-Innes, 2019).
3. Teacher as technology user (Farmer and & Ramsdale 2016 and more).
4. Teacher as workload manager (Goodyear et al., 2001).
5. Teacher as designer (Farmer & Ramsdale, 2016; Goodyear et al., 2001).

                                           9
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
6. Teacher as critic (Cleveland-Innes, 2019) – which was operationalized as
   critical thinker.
7. Teacher as innovator (Cleveland-Innes, 2019; Goodyear et al., 2001).
8. Teacher as leader (O'Brien & Fuller, 2018).
9. Teacher as student expert (Boettcher & Conrad, 2021; Cleveland-Innes,
   2019).
   Studying teachers’ discourse about their role in a teaching experience
therefore provides insights into their epistemic frames and how they understand
their teacher identity.


The Virtual School project

    The Virtual School project originated in 2020 at Monash University,
Australia, in response to the pressing challenges of educational disadvantage,
particularly in the STEM field, which were further amplified by the COVID-19
pandemic. The project’s main objective was to address the difficulties faced by
students and student-teachers in STEM subjects. To tackle this issue, the
Virtual School project engaged preservice teachers in virtual internships,
offering a unique learning environment where they could interact with mentors,
researchers, and experienced teachers, while also reaching the students’ needs
through online lessons. Through the process of designing and delivering
interactive online sessions, the participants developed a deeper understanding
of integrating technology into STEM teaching and learning, thereby shaping
their identities as future STEM educators.
    The Virtual School concept was further developed through a joint research
effort between Monash University and the University of Padova (UniPD) in
Italy in 2021-2022. Taking into account the specificities of the Italian context,
the UniPD side of the project involved both preservice and early-career physics
teachers, as explained in further detail in the following section. Participants
were engaged in creating remedial physics lessons for students in their first year
of secondary school during the early post-pandemic times. By fostering a digital
community of practice, the project aimed to strengthen the professionalism of
Italian teachers in the beginning phase of their career, also as a response to the
current lack of opportunities for preservice internships, which limits the
opportunities for them to engage in valuable experiences and feedback before
entering the profession.
    In the Australian context, the project in 2021-22 identified key areas of the
Victorian Certificate of Education curriculum that were historically poorly
answered in end of year examinations. Hence, the project engaged preservice
secondary school teachers to design and realize interactive lessons online

                                           10
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
covering the content for each of these areas. The seven one-hour classes and
the final two-hour one were delivered by pairs of preservice teachers under the
supervision of a qualified and registered mentor teacher.
    In the Italian context, the participants co-designed, co-delivered and
reflected on cycles of eight physics lessons realized in collaboration with local
secondary schools, closely interacting with experienced teachers (mentors) who
identified the core disciplinary areas that needed intervention.


The study

    This research is an exploratory case study on the impact of a VCoP for
preservice and early-career physics teacher training. We hypothesised that,
through the Virtual School experience, teachers’ epistemic frames on
professional identity could be altered and, that they could develop their
conceptions of what it means to be a good physics teacher. We identified the
following research question:
    How can a virtual community of practice influence physics preservice and
early-career teachers’ epistemic frames about their professional identity?

4.1 Context, participants and setting

    Differently from the Australian context, in Italy there is currently no specific
degree program for prospective secondary school teachers. While the
legislation in this regard is changing the paper is being written, at the time of
designing the project the so-called “24 CFU” initial teacher training scheme
applied. Teacher were required to get a degree in the subject (in this case,
Physics or Mathematics or Astronomy), plus 24 ECTS (“CFU” in Italian) in
anthropo-psycho-pedagogical subjects. These could include courses on physics
education, which were however not compulsory. The problem therefore arose
of defining the profile of Italian participants so that they corresponded to a
profile of “preservice” teacher. A related problem was recruiting a sufficient
number of participants, as the Virtual School experience was not part of any
compulsory programme, and we could not grant credit for participation.
    As a trade-off solution, we decided to recruit participants from students in
their final year of physics, astronomy and mathematics degree programmes,
and among recent graduates with no more than two years of teaching
experience. The recruitment occurred through mailing lists of students who had
attended courses on physics education in the two years before the
experimentation, and direct contact with local schools. N=8 participants were
recruited (6 females and 2 males) this way, four of which were early-career

                                           11
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
teachers, while the other 4 were students in Mathematics, Physics or
Astronomy.
    All participants were involved in an initial (“pre”) semi-structured
individual interview aimed at collecting a baseline response for the RQ. The
protocol, described in further detail in the “Data collection” section, was
constructed from the model used by Monash University and adapted to the
Italian context.
    The participants were then involved in a VCoP involving two UniPD
researchers (the authors of this paper), one in Pedagogy (O.T.) and one in
Physics Education (M.C.), and two in-service teachers with a background in
PER. These teachers acted as tutors in the design of the lesson cycle. The
researchers facilitated common meetings, conducted the interviews, set up the
VCoP online platform on Moodle. Both the researchers and the tutors observed
the lessons and provided feedback. Moreover, Monash University tutor R.G.
was welcomed as a visiting fellow for two weeks during the VS activities. She
collaborated with the researchers, tutors and participants in the final design
phase of the virtual lessons and in their observation.
    The Virtual School took the form of a summer course consisting of 8 online
lessons, each lasting 1 hour. Given the pilot nature of the project, it was
restricted to the two schools (a “Liceo Scientifico” and a “Technical Institute”)
where the tutors were respectively teaching. The participants were divided into
two groups of four and each group was assigned to a school/tutor. The
disciplinary areas covered in the lessons were defined by each tutor in
consideration of the specificities of the school and the major difficulties
observed in the students. Specific topics were kinematics + forces (Technical
Institute) and thermal effects (Liceo Scientifico). The lessons were delivered
through the Zoom platform, at a pace of 2 or 3 per week, soon after the end of
the school year (June-July 2022). Each participant was a co-teacher in two
lessons. In parallel with the synchronous lessons, each school/group activated
a Google Classroom course for asynchronous interaction with students. After
each lesson, the coaches provided feedback and discussed the lesson with the
preservice teachers, highlighting their different perspectives (practitioner,
pedagogy expert, online teaching expert, physics/physics education expert).
    At the end of the lecture cycles, a second individual online interview
(“post”) was conducted. The protocol went through the same areas covered in
the initial interviews, additionally asking for narratives about the participant’s
role and activities during the VS experience.

4.2 Data collection

   This paper reports on the data from a subset (N = 4) of the preservice

                                           12
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
teachers who participated in the VCoP. All participants in the study were
informed about the protocol and agreed to the methods of data collection,
analysis, and dissemination. Participants were interviewed twice – before and
after the digitally-based Virtual School program –, in Italian, for 30-45 minutes
each. Preservice teachers were asked about their perceptions of effective
physics teachers’ roles and competencies. The protocol was constructed around
five main epistemic elements:
1. Epistemology (e.g., What subject areas are you focusing on as part of your
    teacher training?).
1. Identity (e.g., If a colleague was asked about something you do really well
    as a virtual teacher, what would they say?).
2. Knowledge (e.g., Do you look for different types of software applications
    to change the way you represent content or to have students work with
    content in different ways?).
3. Skills (e.g., Have you had any professional development to enhance your
    virtual teaching skills?).
4. Values (e.g., How critical is it for you to have flexibility in structuring
    your lessons?).
    This interview protocol allowed the researchers to collect data relevant to
the nine teacher roles and competencies described in 2.3, as pertaining to
teaching online (Phillips et al., 2023).
    The interviews were conducted via Zoom conferencing system, with both
audio and video recorded using Zoom’s inbuilt recording tools. Once
transcribed, the interviewees were notified for approval. Two members of the
research team coded deductively the transcripts autonomously for the nine roles
and competencies in 2.3 (i.e., teacher as content deliverer; relationship
manager; technology user; workload manager; designer; critical thinker;
innovator; leader; and student expert). Cohen's kappa coefficient, k = 0.55,
provided significant results in calculating interrater reliability (McHugh, 2012).
Disagreements between the researchers’ coding were discussed until a
consensus was reached.
    An Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) tool was used to visualize the data
(Shaffer et al., 2016). ENA assumes that (1) a set of meaningful features
(“codes”) can be identified systematically in the data; (2) the data have local
structure (segments or conversations); and (3) the codes are connected within
conversations in an important way (Oshima & Shaffer, 2021; Shaffer et al.,
2016). ENA models the connections between codes by quantifying their co-
occurrence within conversations and associated visualizations for each unit of
analysis in the form of weighted networks. This allows ENA to compare all
networks at once both visually and statistically. Data structure is considered to
be the most important aspect of the analysis.

                                           13
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
    We applied the ENA1.7.0 Web Tool. The units of analysis were all lines of
data associated with a single value of time (“pre” and “post”) subset by the
speaker (the individual participants). By using a moving window, ENA
constructs a network model for every line of data, showing how codes occur
within recent temporal contexts (Phillips et al., 2019), defined as 4 lines within
a conversation. The resulting weighted networks are aggregated for all lines for
each unit of analysis.
    Prior to dimensional reduction, the ENA model normalizes the networks for
all units of analysis, accounting for the fact that different units of analysis may
have different numbers of coded lines. Singular value decomposition was used
for dimensional reduction, producing orthogonal dimensions that maximize the
variance explained by each dimension (Oshima & Shaffer, 2021; Shaffer et al.,
2016). In the weighted network graphs, nodes correspond to codes, and edges
reflect the relative frequency of co-occurrence between codes, or
“connections”. Each unit of analysis – i.e., pre- or post-interviews – is shown
in two coordinated representations: (1) a plotted point that represents the
location of its network in low-dimensional projected space – Figure 1 later, and
(2) a weighted network graph – Figure 2 later. An optimization routine
determines the locations of the network graph nodes by minimizing the
difference between the plotted points and their corresponding network
centroids. Due to their co-registration, network graph nodes and their
connections can be used to interpret the dimensions of projected space and
explain plotted points' positions in the space. In our model, co-registration
correlations were 0.69 (Pearson) and 0.66 (Spearman) for the first dimension,
and 0.81 (Pearson and Spearman) for the second dimension.


5. Findings

    ENA was used to visualize participants’ epistemic frames and to model
similarities and differences between them. The figure illustrates three elements:
1. Participants’ centroids (red circles represent each preservice teacher during
the pre-test; blue circles represent participants’ conversations at post-test); 2.
Group centroids, i.e., network centres (red square for pre-test conversation, blue
square for post-test); 3. Each group’s confidence intervals.
    As per Figure 1, pre- and post- conversations shifted significantly. Group
centroids – i.e., aggregated means that function as gravitational core of the
group’s weighted epistemic network – are significantly different on the x-axis
(Mann-Whitney test p = .003, r = 1.00). To better understand similarities and
differences between participants’ pre- and post-test perceptions of physics
teachers' roles and competencies, we need to zoom into the weighted networks.

                                           14
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
Figure 1- Epistemic Network Pre- and Post- Group visualization




    Figure 2 zooms into each of the two groups’ networks (i.e., pre- and post-
group) from Figure 1. Specifically, Figure 2 shows a subtraction visualization
between pre- and post-test weighted networks. The size of the nodes represents
the frequency of those codes in the post-test, once subtracted the ones in the
pre-test. The thickness of the lines represents the co-occurrence of the couples
of connected nodes in the post-conversations, once subtracted the pre-test.
Finally, the colour of the lines represents whether the pre-test (in red) or post-
test (in blue) presented higher frequency of co-occurrences, hence being still
visible after the subtraction.
    Figure 2 indicates that perceptions of physics teachers being designers,
critical thinkers, content deliverers, relationship managers, and leaders held
true through the VCoP: their frequency is still high at post-test even subtracting
the pre-test mentioning, as is shown by the node size. For example, in the words
of a participant (P):

   P6-post: We developed [our lesson plan] from the point of view of much
   more than the concepts that we transfer. We moved forward step by step but
   not doing three steps at a time. We walked [the pupils] along adding little



                                            15
                                  Copyright © FrancoAngeli
        This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                  No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                            please see: http://creativecommons.org
   by little, building blocks and then reaching, getting to the last exercise that
   contained everything.

Figure 2 - Subtraction Epistemic Network visualization between pre-test and post-test




    However, the participants connected those keywords differently before and
after the VCoP experience. In the pre-test conversation, the stronger
connections are between beliefs of content and critical thinking competencies
for a physics teacher (see thickness of red lines), for example:

   P2-pre: Sometimes if an exercise doesn’t come out right to me, I say very
   honestly “guys, I don’t know how to do it. I’ll look at it at home. In the
   solution book.” As a mathematician, I lean on those too if I don’t know
   things.

  Closely follow connections between critic and student expert, critic and
workload manager or designer, and between content deliverer and relationship
manager. Examples of such connections are:

   P4-pre: I guess I get lost in the dispersion sometimes. Because if the [pupils
   show] some interest, I try to follow it, because, I mean, if they miss a piece


                                             16
                                  Copyright © FrancoAngeli
        This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                  No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                            please see: http://creativecommons.org
   of physics, I don’t think it’s going to be a drama in their future, whereas if
   they find something in physics that they like…then it seems to me that they
   are more attentive, attracted [even to the following topics]

   P5-pre: I see that it destroys you… I mean to prepare for the lessons, I have
   to plan, I have to write down A, then B, then C, then D, because otherwise
   I would be someone who gets an idea and then goes that way or skips a step.

   The strength of the aforementioned connections is such that the entire
group’s centroid results positioned between physics teachers as content
deliverers and critical thinkers.
   At post-test, however, participants connect more strongly a wider variety of
perceptions of physics teachers: as designers, leaders, content deliverers,
innovators, and relationship managers and technology users (see thickness and
number of blue lines). Particularly the connections involving teachers as
relationship managers and innovators hold such a weight that the entire group’s
centroid is pulled close to them.

   P6-post: We got very good at organizing the [learning] path, connecting the
   various things. About pupils’ participation, maybe when we started calling
   them by name, when we started to push them a little bit, even just sending a
   message [in the chat] ... the first time we got a private message, the second
   time we got a chat message with everyone, at the third time [the pupil
   probably thought] “whatever, at this point [it’s] quicker to talk”. It was
   gradual, they realized that no one was judging them. […] the interactions
   between us – along with them – we also grew. we started to know each other
   more, we started to see the dynamics what we could do...

   P3-post: I feel like we worked on [making sure learning would happen].
   even designing things together helped, breaking down the problem into little
   pieces, doing a problem with incredible slowness, emphasizing every single
   step, every little thing to pay attention to so it helped [them].


6. Discussion and conclusions

   The Virtual School has significantly impacted the epistemic frameworks of
preservice and early-career physics teachers about their professional identity.
Following their participation in the VCoP, they tend to place greater emphasis
on relational competences and student learning rather than focusing solely on
content delivery. Moreover, they are more focused on the design on lessons and

                                           17
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
are open to (technological) innovation and collaborative work (leading the
learning experience along with the class colleagues).
    A tendency to place emphasis on content delivery while disregarding
classroom relationships has been reported in literature about preservice physics
teachers (Salazar López & Nardi, 2021; Frågåt et al., 2021). These results
suggest that the VCoP has been effective in tackling this issue.
    Preservice and early-career teachers’ post-VCoP perspective on the teaching
profession also highlights a higher level of interconnectedness among the
different dimensions, suggesting an evolution in their teacher identity marked
by a more nuanced mindset. That there were individual variations in this
evolution, reflecting the diverse starting points and attitudes of participants,
supporting the idea that teachers' development may follow different pathways
(Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002). This perspective has been taken in recent
studies about in-service physics teacher education (Levy et al., 2021); our study
supports applying it also in the realm of preservice physics teacher education.
    In 2023, the Virtual School concept was further developed and refined.
Activities are ongoing and will be analysed to highlight the evolution from the
pilot version. The results so far suggest that the Virtual School community is a
promising framework for initial and early-career teacher training and suggests
areas for its improvement, as also advocated by recent literature (Murtagh &
Rushton, 2023).
    The Virtual School experience integrates several insights from research in
both general education and physics education, supporting a more research-
based approach in the design of initial and early-career teacher training
programs. We expect that it could serve as a model for designing teacher
training programs in the future, and in particular we think that it can provide
insights for the ongoing reform of initial teacher training in Italy. At the time
of writing this paper, Italian universities are working to define new secondary
school teacher training curricula as a response to the new law requiring
prospective teachers to gain 60 ECTS as qualification for the profession. These
must include 16 discipline-specific-course credits managed by the different
Departments. In the context of physics, several stakeholders such as the Italian
Physical Society (SIF) and the National Coordination of the academic field
“physics teaching and history of physics” (CooFIS08) have released
recommendations for the development of research-based curricula grounded in
the findings of physics education research. We believe that the Virtual School
experience is a relevant example of a training opportunity informed by findings
in both general pedagogy and discipline-specific research, of a productive
collaboration between researchers of different departments, and of a pragmatic
application of the CoP paradigm in the context of teacher training in the Italian
context.

                                           18
                                 Copyright © FrancoAngeli
       This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                 No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                           please see: http://creativecommons.org
   The Virtual School experience gains relevance also in light of the pandemic
experience, which has expedited the integration of digital technologies into
educational practices and the adoption of online or blended learning modalities
within school environments.
   The approach described in this paper also reflects a more personalized
approach to the design and evaluation of teachers’ professional development,
adopting a twofold – individual and collective – stance. Analyzing interactions
withing the VCoP and comparing different “versions” of it will shade light on
the processes leading to the results discussed in this paper. Finally, from a
methodological perspective, the analysis presented in this study supports the
use of Epistemic Frame Theory and Epistemic Network Analysis as a powerful
tool to study and interpret (physics) teachers’ identity and professional growth.


Limitations
    The data reported here refer to a subset of the group who participated in the
VCoP and may not reflect a general trend. Different backgrounds of the
participants may also influence both the pre- and post-results. Further research
is ongoing to extend the analysis to a larger sample and to compare between
different educational contexts.


References
Avraamidou, L. (2014). Studying science teacher identity: current insights and future
   research directions. Studies in Science Education 50(2), 145-179. Doi:
   10.1080/03057267.2014.937171.
Bjurholt, N., & Bøe, M. V. (2023). Remote physics teaching during the Covid-19
   pandemic: losses and potential gains. Physics Education, 58, 015004. Doi:
   10.1088/1361-6552/ac96be.
Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R.-M. (2021). The online teaching survival guide: Simple
   and practical pedagogical tips. John Wiley & Sons.
Burkholder, E., Salehi, S., Sackeyfio, S., Mohamed-Hinds, N., & Wieman, C. (2022).
   Equitable approach to introductory calculus-based physics courses focused on
   problem solving. Physical Review Physics Education Research 18, 020124. Doi:
   10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.18.020124.
Clarke, D., & Hollingsworth, H. (2002). Elaborating a model of teacher professional
   growth. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(8), 947-967.
Cleveland-Innes, M. (2019). The community of inquiry theoretical framework:
   Designing collaborative online and blended learning. In Rethinking pedagogy for a
   digital age (pp. 85-102). Routledge.
Criswell, B. A., Rushton, G. T., Nachtigall, D., Staggs, S., Alemdar, M., Cappelli, C. J.
   (2018). Strengthening the vision: Examining the understanding of a framework for

                                            19
                                  Copyright © FrancoAngeli
        This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                  No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                            please see: http://creativecommons.org
   teacher leadership development by experienced science teachers. Science Education
   102, 1265-1287. Doi: 10.1002/sce.21472.
Etkina, E. (2010). Pedagogical content knowledge and preparation of high school
   physics teachers. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research 6,
   020110. Doi: 10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020110.
Etkina, E., Gregorcic, B., & Vokos, S. (2017). Organizing physics teacher professional
   education around productive habit development: A way to meet reform challenges.
   Physical Review Physics Education Research 13, 010107. Doi.
   10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.13.010107.
Farmer, H., & Ramsdale, J. (2016). Teaching competencies for the online environment.
   Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 42(3), 1-17.
Fischer, H.E., & Kauertz, A. (2021). Professional competencies for teaching physics.
   In H.E. Fischer & R. Girwidz (Ed.). Physics Education. Challenges in Physics
   Education (pp. 25-53). Springer. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-87391-2_2.
Frågåt, T., Henriksen, E. K., & Tellefsen, C. W. (2021). Pre-service science teachers’
   and in-service physics teachers’ views on the knowledge and skills of a good
   teacher. Nordic Studies in Science Education (NorDiNa) 17(3), 277-292. Doi:
   10.5617/nordina.7644.
Fullan, M. (2020). Learning and the pandemic: What’s next?. Prospects, 49(1-2), 25-
   28. Doi: 10.1007/s11125-020-09502-0.
Ghamrawi, N. (2021). Teachers’ virtual communities of practice: A strong response in
   times of crisis or just another Fad?. Education and Information Technology 27,
   5889-5915. Doi: 10.1007/s10639-021-10857-w.
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience.
   Harvard University Press.
Goodyear, P., Salmon, G., Spector, J. M., Steeples, C., & Tickner, S. (2001).
   Competences for online teaching: A special report. Educational Technology
   Research and Development, 49(1), 65-72
Grossman, P. L., & Stodolsky, S. S. (1995). Content as Context: The Role of School
   Subjects in Secondary School Teaching. Educational Researcher 24(8), 5-23. Doi:
   10.3102/0013189X024008005.
Hadar, L. L., O., Ergas, Alpert, B., & Ariav, T. (2020). Rethinking teacher education
   in a VUCA world: preservice teachers’ social-emotional competencies during the
   Covid-19 crisis. European Journal of Teacher Education 43(4), 573-586. Doi:
   10.1080/02619768.2020.1807513.
Kavanagh, S. S., Conrad, J., & Dagogo-Jack, S. (2020). From rote to reasoned:
   Examining the role of pedagogical reasoning in practice-based teacher education.
   Teaching and Teacher Education, 89, 69-84. Doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2019.102991.
Kirkby, J., Walsh, L., & Keary, A. (2018). A case study of the generation and benefits
   of a community of practice and its impact on the professional identity of early
   childhood teachers. Professional Development in Education 45(2), 264-275. Doi:
   10.1080/19415257.2018.1449003.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation.
   Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511815355.



                                            20
                                  Copyright © FrancoAngeli
        This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                  No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                            please see: http://creativecommons.org
Levy, S., Bagno, E., Berger, H., & Eylon, B.-S. (2022). Professional growth of physics
   teacher-leaders in a Professional Learning Communities program: the context of
   inquiry-based laboratories. International Journal of Science and Mathematics
   Education 20, 1813-1839.
McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: The kappa statistic. Biochemia medica
   22(3), 276-282.
McLaughlan, T. (2021) Facilitating factors in cultivating diverse online communities
   of practice: A case of international teaching assistants during the COVID-19 crisis.
   International Journal of Information and Learning Technology 38(2), 177-195.
   Doi: 10.1108/IJILT-05-2020-0074.
Milner-Bolotin, M. (2018). Evidence-Based Research in STEM Teacher Education:
   From Theory to Practice. Frontiers in Education 3(92). Doi:
   10.3389/feduc.2018.00092.
Murtagh, L., & Rushton, E. A. C. (2023). The role of teacher educator virtual
   communities of practice (VCoPs) in mobilising policy engagement: A case study of
   the initial teacher training market review from England. Asia-Pacific Journal of
   Teacher Education. Doi: 10.1080/1359866X.2023.2191306.
Nadeau, M., Modir, B., Lock, R. M., & Newton, W. G. (2020). Participation in an
   online community of high school physics teachers. In Wolf, S., Bennett, M. B., &
   Frank, B. W. (Eds.). 2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings
   (pp. 370-375). Doi: 10.1119/perc.2020.pr.Nadeau.
O’Brien, D. J. (2021). A guide for incorporating e-teaching of physics in a post-COVID
   world. American Journal of Physics 89, 403. Doi: 10.1119/10.0002437.
O'Brien, A., & Fuller, R. (2018). Synchronous teaching techniques from the perspective
   and observation of virtual high school teachers: An investigative study.
   International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education
   (IJICTE), 14(3), 55-67.
Oshima, J., & Shaffer, D. W. (2021). Learning analytics for a new epistemological
   perspective of learning. Information and Technology in Education and Learning,
   1(1), 1-11. Doi: 10.12937/itel.1.1.Inv.p003.
Perkins, D. (1992). Smart schools. Free Press.
Phillips, M., Kovanović, V., Mitchell, I., & Gašević, D. (2019). The Influence of
   Discipline on Teachers’ Knowledge and Decision Making. In B. Eagan, M.
   Misfeldt, & A. Siebert-Evenstone (Eds.), Advances in Quantitative Ethnography
   (pp. 177-188). Springer International Publishing. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-33232-
   7_15.
Phillips, M., Trevisan, O., Carli, M., Mannix, T., Gargiso, R., Gabelli, L. & Lippiello,
   S. (2023). Uncovering patterns and (dis)similarities of preservice teachers through
   Epistemic Network Analysis. In E. Langran, P. Christensen & J. Sanson (Eds.),
   Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education
   International Conference (pp. 1021-1030). New Orleans, LA, United States:
   Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). -- Retrieved
   September 11, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/221960.
Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators (Y.
   Punie, Ed.). Publications Office of the European Union.


                                            21
                                  Copyright © FrancoAngeli
        This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                  No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                            please see: http://creativecommons.org
Salazar López, T. I., & Nardi, R. (2020). Imaginários de futuros professores de física
   sobre os saberes docentes: sentidos produzidos na interface universidade-escola no
   estágio curricular supervisionado. Investigações Em Ensino De Ciências, 25(3),
   454-470. Doi: 10.22600/1518-8795.ienci2020v25n3p454.
Shaffer, D. W. (2006a). Epistemic frames for epistemic games. Computers &
   Education 46(3), 223-234. Doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2005.11.003.
Shaffer, D. W. (2006b). How computer games help children learn. Palgrave Macmillan.
Shaffer, D. W., Collier, W., & Ruis, A. R. (2016). A tutorial on Epistemic Network
   Analysis: Analyzing the structure of connections in cognitive, social, and
   interaction data. Journal of Learning Analytics, 3(3), 9-45. Doi:
   10.18608/jla.2016.33.3.
Ulla, M. B. & Perales, W. F. (2021). Emergency remote teaching during COVID19:
   The role of teachers’ online Community of Practice (CoP) in times of crisis. Journal
   of Interactive Media in Education 1(9), 1-11. Doi: 10.5334/jime.617.
Vangrieken, K., Meredith, C., Packer, T., & Kyndt, E., (2017). Teacher communities
   as a context for professional development: A systematic review. Teaching and
   Teacher Education 61, 47-59. Doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2016.10.001.
Wei, B., Avraamidou, L. & Chen, N. (2021). How a beginning science teacher deals
   with practical work: an explorative study through the lens of identity. Research in
   Science Education 51, 1-19. Doi: 10.1007/s11165-019-9826-z.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of
   Practice: A guide to Managing Knowledge. Harvard Business School.




                                            22
                                  Copyright © FrancoAngeli
        This work is released under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-Commercial –
                  No Derivatives License. For terms and conditions of usage
                            please see: http://creativecommons.org
