The Association of Mathematics Teacher Educator’s (AMTE) community circles were designed to build community around a topic of shared interest. For the Simulations Community Circle (SimCC), this shared focus centers on the use of teaching simulations to support teacher education. The purpose of this article is to share how the authors, who co-lead the SimCC, highlighted emerging research by facilitating a speaker series during the 2025 - 2026 academic year. Teaching simulations, also referred to as approximations of practice (Grossman et al., 2009a, 2009b), can create authentic, low-risk spaces for teachers to practice the complex work of enacting effective practices (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM], 2014), such as eliciting and using evidence of student thinking or posing purposeful questions (e.g., Arbaugh et al., 2019).
The speaker series included four virtual sessions, two during the fall semester and two during the spring semester. The overarching goal of the speaker series was to provide mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) with opportunities to explore emerging research and tools to support teaching simulations. Three sub-goals of these sessions included: (1) fostering participant collaboration, (2) facilitating knowledge exchange, and (3) promoting active engagement with teaching simulations. By sharing the sessions in this article, we aim to provide MTEs with examples of simulation-based learning opportunities that can be adapted to their own teaching contexts while also inviting readers to engage with the growing community of scholars exploring simulations in mathematics teacher education. The following sections detail the specific tools and simulations presented during each session, serving to further disseminate the research highlighted throughout the series.
Session 1: ACTS: the AI-Based Classroom Teaching Simulator
The first session featured Dr. James Bywater from James Madison University, who presented ACTS: the AI-based Classroom Teaching Simulator (ACTS, n.d.) and provided SimCC participants with opportunities to engage directly with ACTS and consider its role in supporting mathematics teacher learning. ACTS (n.d.) is a conversational, dialogue-based virtual classroom simulator designed to help teachers practice research-based instructional strategies through interactions with virtual students in content-based mathematical scenarios.
During his presentation, Dr. Bywater demonstrated how ACTS provides mathematics in-service and pre-service teachers with opportunities to practice posing assessing and advancing questions in response to student thinking using an interface that includes both chat-based dialogue and dynamic visual representations of student tasks. He also modeled the automated feedback that ACTS generates after each simulation session and explained how the system uses advances in natural language processing and human-in-the-loop design to support reflective practice. Moreover, Dr. Bywater shared research on pre-service teacher experiences with ACTS, teacher educator perspectives on co-designing and implementing ACTS, and the quality of the automated feedback provided by the system (e.g., Bywater et al., 2019, 2023; Chiu et al., 2022). Following Dr. Bywater’s demonstration, SimCC participants engaged in a discussion about ACTS where participants asked questions about implementation and considered affordances, and challenges of this tool. Several participants considered how they might implement this tool within their own context. For example, participants discussed how ACTS could be incorporated into methods courses to provide additional opportunities for preservice teachers to rehearse responding to student thinking outside of class time. Dr. Bywater also engaged SimCC participants in a discussion about the future directions for researching tools like ACTS.
Session 2: ColleagueAI
In the second session, Dr. Sun from the University of Washington bridged theory and practice by providing SimCC participants with an opportunity to explore ColleagueAI’s Simulation tool. ColleagueAI is a research-based platform developed through the University of Washington’s National Center for AI Use in Education (ColleagueAI, n.d.). Dr. Sun described ColleagueAI as “always Robin, never Batman,” emphasizing that the tool is intended to support, not replace, the educator. Dr. Sun led the SimCC participants in exploring three use cases for ColleagueAI: (1) analyzing student misconceptions, (2) facilitating discussions, and (3) simulating student responses. Dr. Sun also provided tips on effective prompting and demonstrated how to create interactive classroom vignettes. Following the exploration of the tool, SimCC participants discussed how the ColleagueAI Simulation tool could be incorporated into their methods courses. For example, one participant shared that they could envision their students using the tool to analyze transcripts of student-teacher discourse. Other participants discussed how the tool might support lesson planning and rehearsal prior to field experiences. This led to conversations about the affordances and limitations of AI-supported teaching simulations. This discussion fostered knowledge exchange and collaboration among SimCC participants, two central goals of the speaker series.
Session 3: Interactive Clinical Simulations
The third session featured Dr. Duane Graysay from Syracuse University, who presented his work on live actor simulations. Unlike the first two sessions, which focused on AI-based tools, this session centered on the use of live, interactive clinical simulations that engage preservice mathematics teachers in rehearsing responses to student thinking in real time. Dr. Graysay shared the design of the Simulations of Student Thinking in Mathematics (SiSTiM) protocols and accompanying training materials. The materials are grounded in principles of situated cognition and variation theory and structured to help preservice teachers develop situated knowledge of how students approach mathematical tasks (e.g., Graysay & Bermudez, 2025). During the session, he described how actors are trained to portray distinct, research-informed student approaches to mathematical problems, enabling preservice teachers to anticipate student thinking, engage in simulations, and reflect on variations in student responses across cycles of practice. Dr. Graysay illustrated these design principles through the case of “Kristy,” a preservice teacher whose reflections following simulation experiences supported the development of more sophisticated understandings of student thinking (Graysay & Bermudez, 2025). He also discussed pragmatic considerations related to implementing live actor simulations, including the resources required to design protocols, train actors, and facilitate reflective discussions. Dr. Graysay acknowledged limitations related to scalability, noting the challenges of implementing live actor simulations in high-enrollment classes. Following the presentation, SimCC participants engaged in discussion by posing questions about implementation logistics, resource requirements, and opportunities for adapting live simulations to their own contexts. For example, one participant considered how they might utilize live simulations with a large number of preservice teachers recognizing that individual sessions may not be feasible and/or how a similar experience might be designed using video or other digital resources. These conversations highlighted how participants were not only learning about simulation-based approaches but also collectively problem solving around issues of scalability and implementation.
Session 4: BranchED
The final session featured Dr. Kate Zimmer from BranchED, who demonstrated how Mursion (n.d.) can create safe, low-risk practice spaces in which teachers can engage in deliberate practice, receive targeted feedback, and reflect on instructional decision-making, processes shown to support teacher readiness and confidence (Dieker et al., 2023; Driver et al., 2024). Dr. Zimmer shared that her team is currently designing and piloting AI-powered Mursion simulations focused on teacher learning of high-leverage and evidence-based practices. Such simulations differ from the traditional use of Mursion because they do not have a human in the loop. To showcase this emerging tool, she shared a short demonstration video. Next, a SimCC participant had the opportunity to engage in a live Mursion mixed-reality simulation. A human actor, not AI, was controlling the five avatar students. Dr. Zimmer set the stage for the simulation by providing a scenario and informed the SimCC participant that she should focus on encouraging the avatar students to seek help, one of the messages from the Math Narratives Project (n.d.). After the two demonstrations we discussed affordances for each of the tools and potential challenges. For example, participants discussed how they might sequence the simulations to provide a productive experience for preservice teachers. Participants also compared the strengths of AI-supported and human-facilitated simulations, generating ideas for how multiple forms of simulation might be combined within a teacher education program. This interactive experience directly supported our goal of engaging SimCC participants in teaching simulations while also fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration among attendees.
Reflection on the Speaker Series
Across the four sessions, 46 MTEs participated, with about 10 – 12 MTEs joining during each session. These sessions have led to ongoing collaboration among participants and presenters. For example, three of the members are collaborating on a proposal for a structured poster session at AREA focused on simulations of practices. Others have collaborated to present at the AMTE annual conference. In addition, participants frequently used session discussions to seek advice about implementing simulations in their own programs, share instructional materials, and connect with colleagues facing similar challenges.
Compared to our SimCC meetings in previous years, which did not designate one focal presenter, this structured speaker series has proven to be a productive use of meeting time by offering space for presenters to share tools that are still in development with the broader mathematics teacher educator community. For example, one SimCC member provides feedback on the ColleagueAI tool. This feedback loop benefited both participants and presenters by creating opportunities for researchers to receive input from MTEs while allowing participants early access to emerging tools and research.
The 2025 - 2026 SimCC speaker series illustrates the variety of ways that simulations can be used to support and enhance mathematics teacher education. In this article, we shared how the series has fostered (1) collaboration among participants, (2) knowledge exchange, and (3) engagement in teaching simulations. Across sessions, participants consistently noted the value of experiencing simulations firsthand, rather than only discussing their theoretical potential. Experiencing simulations as learners helped participants envision how they might incorporate such activities into their methods courses, professional development settings, and other teacher learning environments.
As interest in simulation-based teacher education continues to grow, we encourage MTEs to explore the tools and research highlighted in this article, consider how simulations might support teacher learning within their own contexts, and join the SimCC to continue these conversations with colleagues. Our next session will be in the Fall and we encourage those interested in joining the SimCC to check here for meeting dates, times, and links: https://amte.net/content/amte-community-circles and/or to reach out to the authors and we will add you to our email list.
References
ACTS. (n.d.). https://www.aiclassroomsimulation.org/
Arbaugh, F., Graysay, D., Konuk, N., & Freeburn, B. (2019). The three-minute-rehearsal cycle of enactment and investigation: Preservice secondary mathematics teachers learning to elicit and use evidence of student thinking. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 8(1), 22-48. https://doi.org/10.5951/mathteaceduc.8.1.0022
Bywater, J. P., Chiu, J. L., Hong, J., & Sankaranarayanan, V. (2019). The teacher responding tool: Scaffolding the teacher practice of responding to student ideas in mathematics classrooms. Computers & Education, 139, 16-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.05.004
Bywater, J. P., Lilly, S., & Chiu, J. L. (2023). Examining technology-supported teacher responding and students’ written mathematical explanations. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 26(6), 785-807. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-022-09546-3
Chiu, J. L., Bywater, J. P., & Lilly, S. (2022). The role of AI to support teacher learning and practice: A review and future directions. In F. Ouyang, P. Jiao, B. M. McLaren, & A. H. Alavi (Eds.), Artificial intelligence in STEM education, 163-174. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003181187
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Driver, M. K., Zimmer, K. E., Khan, O., Sadler, J. V., & Draper, E. (2024). Preparing general education teachers for inclusive settings: Integrating high-leverage practices and mixed-reality simulation in pre-service coursework. Education Sciences, 14(4), 428. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14040428
Graysay, D., & Bermudez, H. (2025). Learning from simulations of student thinking in mathematics: SiSTiM and the case of Kristy. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 14(1), 17-31. https://doi.org/10.5951/MTE.2024-0003
Grossman, P., Compton, C., Igra, D., Ronfeldt, M., Shahan, E., & Williamson, P. (2009). Teaching practice: A cross-professional perspective. Teachers College Record, 111, 2055–2100. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810911100905
Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., & McDonald, M. (2009). Redefining teaching, re-imagining teacher education. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 15(2), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600902875340
Math Narratives Project. (n.d.). https://www.mathnarrative.org/
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NCTM. (2014). Principles to actions: Ensuring mathematical success for all. Reston, VA: Author.