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1. How an undergraduate physical science course influences elementary teachers’ longer-term intentions to teach physical science

   Borges, I. Tapia (April 2022, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)

   Preservice science courses typically demonstrate valuable semester impacts on preservice teachers, but less is known about how such courses impact future teacher practice. Using the theory of planned behavior, this study investigates how an undergraduate Physical Science course, focused on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), influences elementary teachers’ longer-term intentions to teach Physical Science. Data sources include a questionnaire with credential-candidate teachers (n=31), who completed a Physical Science course as undergraduates, and interviews with teacher educators, professional development providers, and practicing elementary teachers (n=9). Findings illustrate that credential-candidate teachers did not teach Physical Science during their teaching placements. Such findings were further supported by stakeholders. We detail strategies that could support elementary teachers’ teaching of Physical Science. 

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2. When a pandemic requires a pivot in the modality of teacher professional development

   Kouo, J. L.; Klein-Gardner, S.; Eagle, E.; Dalal, M. (July 2021, 2021 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition)

   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. 

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3. Under pressure: How do science teachers use capital to achieve agency during turbulent times?

   https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21852  

   Diaz‐Clark, Elizabeth D; Otto, Josie L; Wright, Diane S; Lin_Hunter, Danielle E; Sample_McMeeking, Laura B; Weinberg, Andrea E; Balgopal, Meena M (May 2024, Science Education)

   Abstract Disruptions to education systems (e.g., the COVID‐19 pandemic) evoke a range of responses from teachers. Teachers are required to learn new skills, attend to students' social emotional needs, modify their instructional approaches, and discover innovative ways to engage their students in science, technology, and engineering courses, all while managing their own professional and personal needs. Although teachers of all disciplines adjust their instructional and curricular approaches in response to disruptions, the impetus for this study was to explore the unique challenges of science teachers during the COVID‐19 pandemic that affected their sense of agency (sense of control). To understand how science teachers acquired, used, and invested in capital (i.e., available resources with the potential to meet identified challenges) to achieve professional agency, we studied 113 science teachers in 2020−2021 when they experienced disruptions associated with the pandemic. An analysis of open‐ended responses from 60 teachers indicates that teachers who achieved agency shared four attributes. They (i) demonstrated an awareness of needed capital, (ii) acquired capital, (iii) used capital, and (iv) dedicated effort toward capital‐building for future use. Our findings inform science teacher educators and schools that are committed to mitigating science teacher attrition by understanding how teachers respond to personal and professional stresses. 

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4. 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)

   Abstract 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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5. Physics students who teach cultivate a deeper sense of professional identity

   Simmonds., P; Wenner, J.A.; Frary, M.; Llewellyn, D. (March 2022, APS March Meeting 2022)

   Historically, graduate education’s goal was to prepare future academics, and has thus focused on the creation and conservation of disciplinary knowledge. However, today’s reality is that most STEM graduate students (GSs) go on to non-academic careers. As educators, it should be our aim to equip GSs for success, regardless of career aspirations. It is therefore essential that we shift our focus towards preparing a new type of scholar – one with a strong professional identity – rather than preparing a person for a specific type of career. We argue that helping students cultivate a professional identity has been largely missing from physics graduate education. Connecting ideas across disciplines and applying abstract knowledge to real problems—as one does when teaching—is a necessity for the development of a strong professional identity. It is hence the integration of knowledge transformation (teaching) into graduate physics education that led us to create the Graduate Identity Formation through Teaching (GIFT) project. In GIFT, GSs are supported to construct adult-level, inquiry-based, 30-minute lessons based on specific K–6 Next Generation Science Standards. The GSs serve as disciplinary experts by teaching their lesson to elementary teacher candidates (TCs). The TCs then turn this knowledge into 15-minute mini-lessons for elementary students. Finally, the GSs observe the TCs teaching the lesson to K–6 students and reflect on the entire experience. We will present results from four semesters of GIFT showing that project participation promotes the development of GS professional identity, with implications for how we can support physics GSs in terms of their current educational activities and their future careers. 

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