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1. On designing better structures for feedback in practice-based professional development: Using “failure” to innovate

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-023-09588-1  

   Brown, Amanda M.; Herbst, Patricio G. (June 2023, Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education)

   This research article contributes to the growing literature highlighting the potential for innovation in mathematics education through design cycles that involve creative risk-taking and failure-based learning. Specifically, we explore how “failed” cycles of StoryCircles—a practice-based professional development approach that centers on teacher collaboration—have been productive in fostering innovations within the program. Our focus is on the challenges that arose in our efforts to enable feedback mechanisms within the StoryCircles system that support teachers’ interrogation of their own instructional practice, as they collaboratively develop lessons and expand their collective knowledge base for teaching mathematics. Through examples of three challenges, we illustrate how various lesson artifacts, including those constructed by teachers in anticipation of implementation and those extracted from actual implementations, failed to serve as the sole source of feedback for supporting teachers’ growth. 

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2. 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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3. Translating and Scaling a Face-to-Face, Video-Based Elementary Science PD Program to an Online Environment

   Kowalski, S.; Belcastro, A.; Hvidsten, C.; Constantine, A.; Faruqi, F.; Askinas, K.; De Vaul, R.; Roehrig, G. (April 2021, Annual Meeting of the NARST International Conference)

   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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4. Guide, Safety Net, Project Tester, and More: Investigating the Roles of Facilitators in an AI Summer Camp

   https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2023.548176  

   Song, Yukyeong; Tian, Xiaoyi; Barrett, Joanne; Israel, Maya; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth (October 2023, Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences)

   Summer camps have become popular for introducing K-12 learners to computer science (CS) and artificial intelligence (AI) in informal learning environments. Facilitators play crucial roles in guiding and engaging learners in these contexts, but there is limited research on their roles in informal AI learning. This paper examines facilitators’ dialogues with campers in a middle school AI summer camp, identifying eight major facilitator roles. The roles differed depending on group dynamics and project phase. The paper provides empirical grounding to define facilitators’ roles in AI learning and guide the design of professional development for camp facilitators. 

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5. “Bringing new things to light”: Examining a process of insight-driven teacher learning.

   Rubin, E. B; van Es, E. A. (January 2022, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences)

   Chinn, C.; Tan, E.; Chan, C.; Kali, Y. (Ed.)

   Effective teaching relies on practices of reflection and inquiry that must be cultivated throughout teachers’ careers. Professional development (PD) can support those practices by positioning participants to develop and build on insights. Using data from a PD program focused on teacher noticing for equity, we draw on practice theory to identify the process and associated practices that emerged through participation in collaborative inquiry. Analysis reveals three phases of activity, consisting of interrelated practices that drove insight-based learning: building awareness, collaborative exploration, and learning through design. Through engaging in this process, participants made unconscious aspects of teaching visible that allowed participants to deepen and expand their insights, and through design, articulated new insights and situated their learning back in the context of their teaching. These findings have implications for designing PD that prioritizes participants’ agency to cultivate practices of reflection and inquiry. 

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