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1. Delivery and Impact of Virtual Teacher Professional Development Workshops.

   Walz, K ; Arquin, M ; Shoemaker, J. ; Liddicoat, S. ; Temple, G. ; Alfano, K. ( August 2022 , ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings)

   Over the past few years, education at all levels has been greatly disrupted by the COVID pandemic. For many schools, face-to-face interactions were reduced or restricted to only those activities that have been determined to be essential for student instruction. The pandemic has also had a great impact on teacher professional development programming, which traditionally has been delivered largely in face-to-face settings. This paper examines the implementation of a series of energy technology teacher professional development workshops that were delivered virtually using online meeting apps. The results of the workshops are presented including participant measures of learning gains, and feedback describing how faculty participants used the information gained to modify their curriculum and instruction. The discussion includes observations and recommended practices to promote the effective incorporation of tools and equipment for remotely delivered workshops. 

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2. How do organizational conditions inform teachers’ equity self‐efficacy and implementation during professional development?

   https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21892  

   Hayes, Kathryn N ; Gladstone, Jessica R ; Toven‐Lindsey, Brit ; Bae, Christine L ( July 2024 , Science Education)

   This paper is part of the special issue on Teacher Learning and Practice within Organizational Contexts. Shifting instructional practices in elementary schools to include more equitable, reform‐based pedagogies is imperative for supporting students’ development as science learners. Teachers need high quality professional development (PD) to learn such practices, but research shows considerable variability in the extent to which teachers implement instructional practices learned during PD. Individual teacher characteristics such as self‐efficacy may influence teacher learning during PD, but only account for part of the variability. The organizational conditions of teachers’ schools and districts may also play a key role in teachers’ implementation of new instructional practices. However, because systematic research in this area in science education is still nascent, it is difficult for districts and PD providers to address organizational barriers to professional learning. To meet this need, we conducted an explanatory mixed‐methods study using surveys (N = 54) and interviews (N = 19) of elementary teachers engaged in equity‐focused, reform‐based science PD, testing the degree to which a conceptually framed set of organizational conditions predicted teacher equity self‐efficacy and instructional practice alignment. Out of the 11 organizational conditions, only teacher professional impact and their sense of autonomy in their instructional practice explained variance in the outcomes. Qualitative findings showed these relationships to be iterative and recursive, rather than linear. Our findings underscore the essential role of teacher professionalism and sense of agency over commonly cited organizational conditions such as materials and labs in supporting teachers to implement more equitable science instructional practices during PD.

    

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3. Rural teacher attitudes and engagement with computing and technology

   https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2022.v12n2p179-196  

   Mendenhall, Melissa P ; Tofel-Grehl, Colby ; Feldon, David ( November 2022 , Theory & Practice in Rural Education)

   The purpose of this sequential Case Study-Mixed Methods research is to explore rural teacher attitudes toward, approaches to, and engagement with making and computational thinking during STEM professional development and co-teaching learning experiences. Specifically, we examine the professional learning needs of two rural, middle school teachers as they engage technology. Using the lens of cultural historical activity theory, this paper examines the ways in which teacher attitude about computing shifted throughout professional learning and instructional practice. Findings show three broad themes that emerge surrounding teacher attitudes, approaches, and engagement with technology: Anxiety, Independent Learner, and Integration. Additionally, findings suggest that teacher attitude toward technology can be moderated through the means of a more knowledgeable other who scaffolds teacher learning and integration of technology. 

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4. Developing Math Knowledge and Computational Thinking Through Game Play and Design: A Professional Development Program.

   Smith, H. ( October 2020 , Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education)

   null (Ed.)

   The Game Play and Design Framework is a project-based instructional method to engage teachers and students with mathematics content by utilizing technology as a vehicle for game play and creation. In the authors’ prior work, they created a technology tool and game editing platform, the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), which enables teachers and students to play, create, and experience technology-augmented learning activities. This paper describes a 14-week Game Play and Design professional development program in which middle school teachers played, designed, tested, and implemented mathematics games in the classroom with their own students. Examples are included of teacher-created games, feedback from the students’ experience designing games, and evidence of student learning gains from playing teacher-created games. This work provides a pedagogical approach for educators and students that utilizes the benefits of mobile technologies and collaborative learning through games to develop students’ higher-level thinking in STEM classrooms. 

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5. Developing mathematics knowledge and computational thinking through game play and design: A professional development program.

   Smith, H. ( October 2020 , Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education)

   null (Ed.)

   The Game Play and Design Framework is a project-based instructional method to engage teachers and students with mathematics content by utilizing technology as a vehicle for game play and creation. In the authors’ prior work, they created a technology tool and game editing platform, the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), which enables teachers and students to play, create, and experience technology-augmented learning activities. This paper describes a 14-week Game Play and Design professional development program in which middle school teachers played, designed, tested, and implemented mathematics games in the classroom with their own students. Examples are included of teacher-created games, feedback from the students’ experience designing games, and evidence of student learning gains from playing teacher-created games. This work provides a pedagogical approach for educators and students that utilizes the benefits of mobile technologies and collaborative learning through games to develop students’ higher-level thinking in STEM classrooms. 

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