As the importance to integrate engineering into K12 curricula grows so does the need to develop teachers’ engineering teaching capabilities and knowledge. One method that has been used to aid this development is engineering professional development programs. This evaluation paper presents the successes and challenges of an engineering professional development program for teachers focused around the use of engineering problem-framing design activities in high school science classrooms. These activities were designed to incorporate the cross-cutting ideas published in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and draw on best practices for instructional design of problem-framing activities from research on design and model-eliciting activities (MEAs). The professional development (PD) was designed to include the following researched-based effective PD key elements: (1) is content focused, (2) incorporates active learning, (3) supports collaboration, (4) uses models of effective practice, (5) provides coaching and expert support, (6) offers feedback and reflection, and (7) is of sustained duration.
The engineering PD, including in-classroom deployment of activities and data collection, was designed as an iterative process to be conducted over a three-year period. This will allow for improvement and refinement of our approach. The first iteration, reported in this paper, consisted of seven high school science teachers who have agreed to participate in the PD, implement the problem-framing activities, and collect student data over a period of one year. The PD itself consisted of the teachers comparing science and engineering, participating in problem-framing training and activities, and developing a design challenge scenario for their own courses.
The participating teachers completed a survey at the end of the PD that will be used to inform enhancement of the PD and our efforts to recruit additional participants in the following year. The qualitative survey consisted of open-ended questions asking for the most valuable takeaways from the PD, their reasoning for joining the PD, reasons they would or would not recommend the PD, and, in their opinion, what would inspire their colleagues to attend the PD. The responses to the survey along with observations from the team presenting the PD were analyzed to identify lessons learned and future steps for the following iteration of the PD. From the data, three themes emerged: Development of PD, Teacher Motivation, and Teacher Experience.
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Professional development in 140 characters? Analyzing Twitter as a professional learning platform for science teachers.
This mixed-methods observational study analyzes Advanced Placement (AP) Biology teachers’ engagement in microblogging for their professional development (PD). Data from three hashtag-based Twitter communities, #apbiochat, #apbioleaderacad, and #apbioleaderacademy (121 users; 2,253 tweets), are analyzed using methodological approaches including educational data mining, qualitative two-cycle content analysis, social network analysis, linear and logistic regression analyses, and hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicate that Twitter adheres to standards of high-quality PD and has the potential to complement more traditional PD activities. Notably, Twitter’s non-hierarchical leadership affords shared content creation and distribution. Additionally, Twitter allows for different temporal participation patterns and supports the personalization of learning experiences aligned to teachers’ needs and preferences. Furthermore, teachers frame their interactions on Twitter positively, thus, creating a supportive environment for professional learning that might reduce teachers’ perceived isolation. Therefore, policy makers and school leaders should feel empowered to encourage teachers to use microblogging complementary to other PD activities.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1221861
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10067590
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Educational Research Association
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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From a teacher’s perspective, teacher learning happens through a complex web of learning experiences. However, research on teacher professional development (PD) typically focuses on the direct influence of single activities or programs. PD researchers less often acknowledge the interactive impacts on teacher learning of the multiple experiences teachers have in different contexts. This conceptual paper works toward a more thoroughgoing ecological framing of teacher PD by bringing forth three dimensions of teacher learning that are often overlooked: scope, interconnectedness, and temporality. The essay centers on the type of design that is widely considered high-quality PD—namely, experiences that are collaborative and situated in teachers’ instructional context—and considers those experiences from the perspective of these three dimensions. I illustrate this framework and its affordances with data from a 4-year research project rooted in video-based mathematics teacher conversations. The focus on scope allows researchers to name and distinguish contexts that are salient to their different studies. The focus on interconnectedness uncovers the interactive relationship between the immediate and broader PD contexts. Finally, the focus on temporality affords the understanding of different phases in learning and extends linear conceptions of progress. Together, these dimensions provide a rich conceptualization to better inform the work of teacher educators.
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Developing Online Professional Development for High School Teachers to Teach Computer Science OnlineCreating effective professional development is critical to support high school teachers who teach computer science (CS) online. The context of this study is based on a current Research to Practice Partnership (RPP) between the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the United States and North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS). Ten high school teachers from the NCVPS who teach CS online participated in a summer workshop and recommended design, facilitation, and evaluation strategies to be included in effective professional development (PD). The summer workshop was conducted synchronously via Zoom. It provided the opportunity to discuss teacher perceptions related to the research questions "What design, facilitation, and assessment strategies are helpful to include in an AP Computer Science Advanced course?" and "What recommendations do you have for designing an online professional development course for high school teachers to teach computer science online?" The questions were posed through an online collaborative Jamboard, and the affinity diagram method was used for data collection and document analysis was conducted. The teacher posts were qualitatively analyzed to identify common themes. Findings for professional development on content design included CS content, how to teach CS, and CS tools and activities. For assessment, they recommended content knowledge assessments, including lab assignments, single and pair programming, and coding assessments. They recommended tools for supplemental instruction, integration of discussion boards for interaction, and tools and strategies to provide feedback for professional development.more » « less
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Objective Over the past decade, we developed and studied a face-to-face video-based analysis-of-practice PD model. In a cluster randomized trial, we found that the face-to-face model enhanced elementary science teacher knowledge and practice, and resulted in important improvements to student science achievement (student treatment effect, d = 0.52; Taylor et al., 2017: Roth et al., 2018). The face-to-face PD model is expensive and difficult to scale. In this poster, we present the results of a two-year design-based research study to translate the face-to-face PD into a facilitated online PD experience. The purpose is to create an effective, flexible, and cost-efficient PD model that will reach a broader audience of teachers. Perspective/Theoretical Framework The face-to-face PD model is grounded in situated cognition and cognitive apprenticeship frameworks. Teachers engage in learning science content and practices in the context in which they will be teaching. In addition, there are scaffolded opportunities for teachers to learn from model videos by experienced teachers, try model units, and ultimately develop their own unit, with guidance. The PD model also attends to the key features of effective PD as described by Desimone (2009) and others. We adhered closely to the design principles of the face-to-face model as described by Roth et al., 2018. Methods We followed a design-based research approach (DBR: Cobb et al., 2003: Shavelson et al., 2003) to examine the online program components and how they promoted or interfered with the development of teachers’ knowledge and reflective practice. Of central interest was the examination of mechanisms for facilitating teacher learning (Confrey, 2006). To accomplish this goal, design researchers engaged in iterative cycles of problem analysis, design, implementation, examination, and redesign (Wang & Hannafin, 2005). Data We iteratively designed, tested, and revised 17 modules across three pilot versions. Three small groups of teachers engaged in both synchronous and asynchronous components of the larger online course. They responded to surveys and took part in interviews related to the PD. The PD facilitators took extensive notes after each iteration. The development team met weekly to discuss revisions. Results We found that community building required the same incremental trust-building activities that occur in face-to-face PD. Teachers began with low-risk activities and gradually engaged in activities that required greater vulnerability (sharing a video of themselves teaching a model unit for analysis and critique by the group). We also identified how to contextualize technical tools with instructional prompts to allow teachers to productively interact with one another about science ideas asynchronously. As part of that effort, we crafted crux questions to surface teachers’ confusions or challenges related to content or pedagogy. Facilitators leveraged asynchronous responses to crux questions in the synchronous sessions to push teacher thinking further than would have otherwise been possible in a 2-hour synchronous video-conference. Significance Supporting teachers with effective, flexible, and cost-efficient PD is difficult under the best of circumstances. In the era of COVID-19, online PD has taken on new urgency. AERA members will gain insight into the construction of an online PD for elementary science teachers/ Full digital poster available at: https://aera21-aera.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=64-5F-86-2E-15-F8-C3-C0-45-C6-A0-B7-1D-90-BE-46more » « less
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null (Ed.)The impacts of COVID-19 have led to a rapid pivot in the delivery of professional development (PD) for new teachers to [PROGRAM]. [PROGRAM] previously provided a week-long, in-person, intensive PD in the summer for teachers but PD was shifted online to a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous sessions during the summer of 2020. The goal of this work in progress is to present how the [PROGRAM] team adapted teacher PD to establish community among our teachers and between teachers and staff, use this connection to enhance our responsiveness in PD, and deliver the engaging content of the [PROGRAM] curriculum. Teachers engaging remotely in [PROGRAM] activities have led to productive adaptations based on their challenges. The lessons learned reflecting back upon the PD will inform the design, delivery, and content of future [PROGRAM] teacher PDs. It is expected that future PD and professional learning offerings will continue to utilize flexible modalities and novel online tools, while also working to better align to PD standards.more » « less
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