Lessons Learned and the Implications for Teacher Learning in Professional Development for Science Teachers

Author(s):  
Rose M. Pringle
2022 ◽  
pp. 313-334
Author(s):  
Luke J. Rapa ◽  
Jeff C. Marshall ◽  
Stephanie M. Madison ◽  
Christopher Flathmann ◽  
Bart P. Knijnenburg ◽  
...  

This chapter provides an overview of Clemson University's Teacher Learning Progression program, which offers participating middle school science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) teachers with personalized advanced credentials. In contrast to typical professional development (PD) approaches, this program identifies individualized pathways for PD based on teachers' unique interests and needs and offers PD options through the use of a “recommender system”—a system providing context-specific recommendations to guide teachers toward the identification of preferred PD pathways and content. In this chapter, the authors introduce the program and highlight (1) the data collection and instrumentation needed to make personalized PD recommendations, (2) the recommender system, and (3) the personalized advanced credential options. The authors also discuss lessons learned through initial stages of project implementation and consider future directions for the use of recommender systems to support teacher PD, considering both research and applied implications and settings.


Author(s):  
Shari L. Stockero

This chapter describes the design and implementation of a blended online synchronous teacher professional development course that was developed to meet the needs of rural educators. The author discusses how research on teacher learning influenced both the course design and instruction and then describes course activities and the ways in which the participants engaged in them. Specific features of the course that supported teacher learning are discussed, the instructor’s and participants’ perspectives on the course are shared, and evidence of teacher learning is presented. The chapter concludes with lessons learned and a discussion of potential areas of research related to supporting teacher learning in online environments.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kārlis Greitāns ◽  
◽  
Dace Namsone ◽  

This review study includes 19 articles from 2016 to 2021 focusing on in-service science teachers’ professional development targeted to promote student conceptual understanding. The present study is guided by the following research question: “What characterizes high-quality in-service science teachers’ professional development targeted to promote student conceptual understanding?” The review indicates that such classroom practices as modelling, questioning, and arguing from evidence are perspective ways to develop student conceptual understanding in science classrooms. A mixture of input, application, and reflection; long-term involvement of participants; focus on the question how to foster transfer from teacher professional development into participants’ everyday work characterize high quality teacher professional development interventions that develop and support inquiry practices. Results suggest that teacher professional development that is sensitive to teacher learning needs is a way to develop student conceptual understanding. Keywords: in-service teacher professional development, science teacher education, student conceptual understanding, teacher learning


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-49
Author(s):  
Siew Hong Lam

Abstract Continuing professional development is important for improving and reforming teaching.Classroom observation of others’ teaching has been used for the professional development of eight lecturers from three Myanmar universities who visited the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore over a period of three weeks.To bridge the socio-cultural and educational background differences, Gagné’s ‘Nine events of instruction’ was used as a pedagogical framework to guide and evaluate the classroom observation and learning as it is well-established for instructional design and resonate well with educators.This study aimed to evaluate the participants’ abilities and their learning through classroom observation based on their perceptions of the ‘nine events of instruction’.The study found that most of the participants have positive views of their abilities in relation to the ‘nine events’, especially in practicing the early events of instruction. The classroom observation has benefitted them with respect to the ‘nine events’, particularly ‘Informing the Students of the Objective/Outcome’, ‘Stimulating Recall of the Prior Knowledge’ and ‘Presenting Information/Content/Stimulus’.Notably, ‘Assessing Performance’ was the most perceived ‘event of instruction’ that the participants wanted to improve on and that the participants perceived will benefit Myanmar lecturers the most.Qualitative feedbacks by the participants revealed lessons learned, their potential applicability and desires to reform and share.The study further demonstrated that the ‘nine events of instruction’ is a useful pedagogical framework for guiding and evaluating perception of abilities and learning in classroom instruction and observation for continuing professional development in a cross-cultural context.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Keliann LaConte ◽  
Brooks Mitchell ◽  
Christine Shupla ◽  
Carrie Liston ◽  
Ginger Fitzhugh

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