Objective
Over the past decade, we developed and studied a face-to-face video-based analysis-of-practice professional development (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 paper, 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 effective science teaching practices in the context in which they will be teaching. There are scaffolded opportunities for teachers to learn from analysis of model videos by experienced teachers, to try teaching model units, to analyze video of their own teaching efforts, and ultimately to develop their own unit, with guidance. The PD model 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 Authors, 2019.
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) in phase one of the project before studying its effect.
Data
Three small pilot groups of teachers engaged in both synchronous and asynchronous components of the larger online course which began implementation with a 10-week summer course that leads into study groups of participants meeting through one academic year. We iteratively designed, tested, and revised 17 modules across three pilot versions. On average, pilot groups completed one module every two weeks. Pilot 1 began the work in May 2019; Pilot 2 began in August 2019, and Pilot 3 began in October 2019. Pilot teachers 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. We revised all modules between each pilot group and used what we learned to inform our development of later modules within each pilot. For example, we applied what we learned from testing Module 3 with Pilot 1 to the development of Module 3 for Pilots 2, and also applied what we learned from Module 3 with Pilot 1 to the development of Module 7 for Pilot 1.
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. We called them crux questions because they revealed teachers’ uncertainty and deepened learning during the discussion. 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. NARST members will gain insight into the translation of an effective face-to-face PD model to an online environment.
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Online Professional Development for Elementary Science Teachers
Traditional professional development (PD) seldom provides teachers with the science content knowledge and pedagogical skills necessary to teach in ways called for in current reforms (Wilson, 2013). In a review of the literature, Darling-Hammond et al (2017) specified that quality PD is content-focused, incorporates active learning, supports collaboration, uses models of effective practice, offers feedback and reflection, and is of sustained duration. Few PD programs meet these quality criteria, indeed most PD in the United States uses a short-term approach. The challenges are to (1) provide high quality PD (2) in a flexible, cost-effective format accessible to a wide audience of teachers. The first challenge is to “design effective professional learning programs based on the best theories of learning and employing the most effective media and technology available (Fishman, 2016, p. 47).” The second challenge may be addressed through online PD. Online PD has emerged as a viable means to provide the necessary accessibility and flexibility for teachers and to reach larger numbers of teachers (Nese et al, 2020). One clear strategy for designing effective online PD is to start from a high-quality in-person PD grounded in research and learning theory.
While there are a growing number of online learning opportunities for science teachers, such as MOOCs (Kleiman & Wolf, 2016), access to online resources (Byers & Mendez, 2016), access to science webinars (Stiener et al, 2016), and just-in-time PD related to curriculum initiatives (Levy et al, 2016), these existing opportunities do not meet the criteria for effective PD. Thus, this paper set explores the development of Online Elementary Science PD (OESPD), a pseudonym, to understand how to effectively translate an effective in-person PD for science teachers into an online environment. Each of the three papers explores critical design features for quality online PD drawing on data from an overarching design-based research study that describes the iterative development of OESPD.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1813127
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10290500
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Association for Science Teacher Education
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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