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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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Methodological Advancements for Analyzing Teachers’ Learning in a Community of Practice
Professional development that privileges teachers’ voice, equity, and the investigation of high-quality instruction is essential to the mathematics education community. However, more research is needed to understand the process, content, and depth of teachers’ learning in this setting. This paper shares our analytic method designed to capture such learning. We integrate three complementary perspectives: Communities of Practice (theoretical framework), Teaching for Robust Understanding (conceptual framework), and Frame Analysis (analytical framework). We show how this method captures changes in teachers’ participation and reification, indicating the process, content, and depth of their learning across their professional development experience. Such work iterates on Frame Analysis and advances the methodology to highlight additional tools to better understand teacher learning about components of powerful classrooms.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1908311
- PAR ID:
- 10253376
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AERA 2021 Annual Meeting
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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