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1. Navigating experiential learning: The role of teacher discourse moves in amplifying student expertise

   Borden, ML; Anderson, RK; Krupa, EE; Belcher, M; Loftis, A (November 2024, Proceedings of the forty-sixth annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   Kosko, K W; Caniglia, J; Courtney, S A; Zolfaghari, M; Morris, G A (Ed.)

   Experiential learning represents a shift in K-12 education that requires teachers to change the ways that they engage students. We created a professional development experience in which teachers learned about the entrepreneurial-based design challenges we developed (Authors, 2019) and practiced implementing teacher check-ins with students participating in our summer camp. In this paper, we conduct a case study to explore how three teachers used teacher discourse moves during their teacher check-ins. We found three types of teacher-student interactions: (a) positioning students as experts, (b) co-designing with students, and (c) pushing students towards an outcome. These findings suggest that teacher professional development for experiential learning should intentionally support teachers in learning how to employ the moves during teacher check-ins in ways that elevate student expertise and advance their thinking. 

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2. Online vs in-person professional learning communities: A qualitative comparison of teacher learning experiences.

   https://doi.org/10.22318/cscl2023.111030  

   Moore, K. S.; Zhang, H.; Gupta, P.; Kuhlken, Z.; Li, H.; Lee, I. (June 2023, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning - CSCL 2023)

   Teachers today have increasing access to professional learning communities (PLCs) through a rapidly expanding menu of online professional development offerings. While a valued opportunity for growth, online PLCs can limit opportunities for co-teaching, pedagogical practice, and experiential learning. This paper examines a teacher professional development program implemented in 2022, where 14 middle school teachers joined either an online or an in-person version of a summer practicum in which PLCs were fostered. In both versions of the PD, teachers worked in small teams of co-teachers to learn and practice teaching middle school students about Artificial Intelligence (AI), a topic in which teachers were non-experts. Findings from qualitative analysis of teacher interviews suggest affordances and barriers to teacher learning online as compared to in-person PLCs. The paper offers recommendations for online PLC structure and co-teaching to enhance teacher learning. 

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3. Investigating the impact of research-based professional development on teacher learning and classroom practice: Findings from computer science education

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104530  

   Mouza, C.; Codding, D.; Pollock, L. (January 2022, Computers and education)

   As the field of computer science (CS) is gaining increased attention, the need for qualified teachers is rapidly growing. Yet little is still known about the design features, implementation, and outcomes of professional development programs in computing. The purpose of this study is threefold: (a) examine a CS professional development program built around high-quality design features reported in the research literature, (b) investigate the impact of the program on participating teachers’ learning and classroom practice, and (c) identify specific design features that facilitated changes in teacher learning and practice. The study employed a mixed-methods design. Data were collected from multiple sources including, pre and post survey data on teacher knowledge of CS content, pedagogy, and technology (N = 94), as well as interviews and classroom implementation data from eight case study participants. Findings from this work indicated that participants reported improvements in their knowledge of CS content, pedagogy, and technology. They also applied new learning into their practice, though implementation varied among participants. Responding on the value of the professional development design features, teachers noted the importance of focusing on CS content knowledge as well as opportunities to engage with pedagogical practices for teaching computing. Findings also indicated the important role of contextualized follow-up classroom support in the implementation of new learning into practice. These findings have implications for the design of professional development programs grounded in best practices with the potential to support broad efforts intended to prepare teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver CS education. 

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4. Professional development for mathematics teacher education faculty: Need and design

   Jackson, B.; Hauk, S.; Tsay, J. J.; Ramirez, A. (June 2020, The Montana math enthusiast)

   null (Ed.)

   The purpose of this report is to share a conceptual model useful in the design of professional learning about teaching for university mathematics faculty. The model is illustrated by examples from a particular design effort: the development of an online shortcourse for faculty new to teaching mathematics courses for prospective primary school teachers. How novice mathematics teacher educators grow as instructors is an emerging area of research and development in the United States. At the same time, it is well established that effective instructional design of any course, including a course for faculty, requires breadth first: understanding and anticipating the needs of the learner. Therefore, given the sparse knowledge base in the new arena of mathematics teacher educator professional growth, effective design requires leveraging the scant existing research while also exploring and iteratively refining broad goals and objectives for faculty learning. Only after a conceptual foundation is articulated for what is to be learned and what will constitute evidence of learning, can cycles of design productively examine and test-bed particular course features such as lesson content, structures (like scope and sequence), and processes (like communication and evaluation). In the example used in this report, several researchbased perspectives on learning in/for/about teaching guided design goals and short-course objectives. These valued perspectives informed creation and prioritization of principles for short-course design which, in turn, informed evaluation of faculty learning. With these conceptual foundations in place, design of lessons to realize the goals, principles, and objectives rapidly followed. The work reported here contributes to the knowledge base in two ways: (1) it addresses faculty professional development directly by describing and illustrating a model for supporting instructional improvement and (2) it provides metanarrative to scaffold the professional growth of those who design professional learning opportunities for post-secondary mathematics faculty. 

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5. Holographic Learning Environment for Bridging the Technical Skill Gap of the Future Smart Construction Engineering Students

   Ogunseiju, Omobolanle; Akanmu, Abiola; Bairaktarova, Diana (January 2020, Enabling the Development and Implementation of Digital Twins: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality)

   Dawood, Nashwan; Rahimian, Farzad P.; Seyedzadeh, Saleh; Sheikhkhoshkar, Moslem (Ed.)

   The growth in the adoption of sensing technologies in the construction industry has triggered the need for graduating construction engineering students equipped with the necessary skills for deploying the technologies. One obstacle to equipping students with these skills is the limited opportunities for hands-on learning experiences on construction sites. Inspired by opportunities offered by mixed reality, this paper presents the development of a holographic learning environment that can afford learners an experiential opportunity to acquire competencies for implementing sensing systems on construction projects. The interactive holographic learning environment is built upon the notions of competence-based and constructivist learning. The learning contents of the holographic learning environment are driven by characteristics of technical competencies identified from the results of an online survey, and content analysis of industry case studies. This paper presents a competency characteristics model depicting the key sensing technologies, applications and resources needed to facilitate the design of the holographic learning environment. A demonstrative scenario of the application of a virtual laser scanner for measuring volume of stockpiles is utilized to showcase the potential of the learning environment. A taxonomic model of the operational characteristics of the virtual laser scanner represented within the holographic learning environment is also presented. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by advancing immersive experiential learning discourses previously confined by technology. It opens a new avenue for both researchers and practitioners to further investigate the opportunities offered by mixed reality for future workforce development. 

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