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We compared 236 geoscience instructors’ histories of professional development (PD) participation with classroom observations using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) that describe undergraduate classes as Student-Centered (score ≥ 50), Transitional (score 31–49) or Teacher-Centered (score ≤ 30). Instructors who attended PD (n = 111) have higher average RTOP scores (44.5 vs. 34.2) and are more frequently observed teaching Student-Centered classes (33% vs. 13%) than instructors with no PD (p < 0.001). Instructors who attended PD that is topically-aligned with content taught during the classroom observation are likely to have RTOP scores that are higher by 13.5 points (p < 0.0001), and are 5.6 times more likely to teach a Student-Centered class than instructors without topically-aligned PD. Comparable odds of teaching Student-Centered classes (5.8x) occur for instructors who attended two topical PD events but were observed teaching a different topic. Models suggest that instructors with at least 24 h of PD are significantly more likely to teach a Student-Centered class than instructors with fewer hours. Our results highlight the effectiveness of discipline-specific PD in impacting teaching practices, and the importance of attending more than one such PD event to aid transfer of learning.
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This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2026
Expansion of Personas to Guide Professional Development in Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Diverse Institutions
In professional development (PD), who the learners are becomes a central feature that influences not only their learning, but also that of those around them. Participant identities, expectations, and teaching philosophies all influence the success of PD. In 2019, Zagallo and colleagues developed a set of personas to characterize how instructors show up in these settings. We are expanding on this prior study to include instructors from diverse institution types participating in a different PD context. To validate the existing personas and generate potential new personas, we followed Zagallo's stepwise procedure that included the collection of multiple types of data (interview transcripts, PD observations, meeting observations) over a 2-y period, qualitative analysis and triangulation of data, creation of skeletons that could be further developed into personas, description and refinement of skeletons into personas, and validation of the personas. Themes from the original study were also captured in this study: knowledge of students, teaching values, approaches to innovations, and perceived barriers. Four personas from the original paper were refined, and two new personas (Riley the Rookie and Ash the Advocate) were identified; both arose from institutional contexts not present in the prior research.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2141789
- PAR ID:
- 10651569
- Editor(s):
- Schussler, Elisabeth E
- Publisher / Repository:
- CBE-Life Sciences Education
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- CBE—Life Sciences Education
- Volume:
- 24
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1931-7913
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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