More Like this

1. Impact of Simulation-Based Teacher Professional Development on Student Perceptions of Teaching Practices

   Knezek, Gerald; Christensen, R (March 2024, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE))

   Cohen, J; Solano, G (Ed.)

   Assessment of the impact of teacher professional development is seldom accomplished by asking their students. This study addresses whether self-reported changes in teacher practices align with their students’ perceptions of changes in teaching practices. Participants were 39 teachers from two US states that completed at least 15 teaching sessions totaling more than 3.5 hours of teacher professional development (practice teaching) inside the simulated teaching environment of simSchool. The goals of the professional development were remediation of implicit bias in teaching practices and fostering equity in teaching. Pre-post surveys were completed by the teachers before and after the professional development sessions. Concurrent pre and post surveys were administered to 800 of the teachers’ G3-12 students. This study presents the results of examining whether teacher-reported changes in their teaching practices can be shown to align with changes reported by their students. 

   more » « less
2. CCERS STEM + C – Emphasis on the Professional Learning of the Classroom Teachers – Expansion of the Pillar

   https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v11n4p210  

   Birney, Lauren; McNamara, Denise M. (April 2022, Journal of Curriculum and Teaching)

   This qualitative study chronicles one of the fundamental pillars of the Curriculum and Community Enterprise for Restoration Science (CCERS). The professional development is focused on curricula that are grounded in the community-based environmental restoration of the waterways of New York Harbor. Centered on the restoration of the native oyster population, hundreds of New York City public school teachers take part in this experience with the intent of increasing their own place-based pedagogical content knowledge and skills. Most of the participants teach in school with populations that are underrepresented in post-secondary STEM majors and STEM related careers. Professional learning activities for teachers and community scientists were offered throughout the 2021 calendar year. Professional Learning Activity Surveys were administered and teachers responded to questions about how they participated in CCERS events, the ways in which CCERS participation has impacted their teaching practice, whether they use CCERS activities for student research, and ways CCERS participation impacts student STEM career interest. An intended outcome is to instill a STEM identity in students identifying as URM and to bring STEM career awareness to these students. More than 72% of the teachers in the professional development sessions agreed that the professional learning activities were effective in providing new STEM content knowledge and best practices for teaching. The majority also reported that the sessions enabled them to increase their students’ engagement with STEM and interest in STEM careers. 

   more » « less
3. Explaining differences in one teacher’s instruction across multiple tracked fifth‐grade classes

   https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12504  

   Webel, Corey; Conner, Kimberly A.; Sheffel, Christina (December 2021, School Science and Mathematics)

   Abstract In this article, we describe the case of “Keri,” a fifth‐grade teacher who had completed an Elementary Mathematics Specialist (EMS) certification program. Drawn from a larger study investigating the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of EMSs, Keri's case was unique in that she was teaching mathematics to four classes in a departmentalized structure, where students were placed into different classes according to perceived mathematics ability. Observations from the larger study revealed that Keri's instructional practices did not align with her reported beliefs and knowledge. To explore this deviation, we conducted a case study where we observed Keri's instruction across multiple classes and used interviews to explore reasons for Keri's instructional decisions in terms of her perceived professional obligations. We found that Keri did employ practices that were aligned with her reported beliefs and knowledge such as pressing students for mathematical justifications, but only in her “higher ability” classes. Interview data suggested that Keri's decisions were driven by a strong obligation to individual students, overriding other obligations. We describe implications of these findings, including the limitations of teacher assessments and surveys as proxies for teaching quality, and discuss recommendations for approaches to teacher development that account for teachers’ perceived obligations. 

   more » « less
4. Coaching Teachers to Teach Computer Science with Equity-focused Teacher Standards

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3677619.3678119  

   Rosato, Jennifer; Thigpen, Laycee; Brunson, Fatima; Tise, Joe; McGill, Monica (September 2024, ACM)

   Problem. Currently, state- and district-level policies in the United States call for teachers to be qualified to teach computing in K-12 classrooms. Recognizing that equity-focused practices are key to reaching all students in computing and leveraging a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP), we piloted an intervention designed to provide one-on-one coaching to teachers. Research Question. Our research questions for this project were: 1) What impact does CS coaching have on teacher capacity to implement equitable teaching practices? and 2) What, if any, changes to teacher practice are sustained during and after the CS coaching process? Methodology. Our mixed-methods study leveraged three primary forms of data from teachers who were coached (coachees) and teachers providing coaching (coaches). These included pre- and post-surveys, coaching logs, and self-reflection checklists. Findings. Participants reported use of high-impact instructional design and classroom practices increased significantly from pre- to post-intervention. Their abilities to discuss topics of identity and plan activities that use evidence-based, CS-specific teaching strategies saw the most dramatic increase from pre- to post-intervention. Implications. Coaching may be an impactful way to develop teacher’s use of equitable teaching practices. 

   more » « less
5. Impacting Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies by Decreasing Bias Through Simulation Experiences

   https://doi.org/10.3280/exioa2-2022oa15077  

   Christensen, Rhonda; Knezek, Gerald (January 2022, EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION IN LEARNING AND TEACHING)

   Simulated teaching environments have been used for more than two decades and are likely to continue to expand to meet the demands of teacher development programs. In this study, the self-reported changes in culturally-responsive teaching perceptions of ten classroom teachers serving more than six hundred students are reported. This paper includes first year findings from a program designed to use artificial-intelligence (AI) based algorithms to reduce implicit bias in teaching. Findings from this study include significant pre-post increases for self-efficacy related to culturally responsive teaching as well as instructional self-efficacy. These findings add credibility to the contention that a key innovation of using simulation programs for teacher professional development is that it provides teachers and teacher trainees many learning trials with simulated students, thereby increasing teacher confidence and competence, and which in turn will improve student learning. Findings set the stage for measuring the impact on student perceptions of learning and cultural engagement intended to support teachers in recognizing and ameliorating their own implicit biases. 

   more » « less