Curriculum‐based teacher professional development in middle school science: A comparison of training focused on cognitive science principles versus content knowledge

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-566
Author(s):  
Rui Yang ◽  
Andrew C. Porter ◽  
Christine M. Massey ◽  
Joseph F. Merlino ◽  
Laura M. Desimone
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Middle School ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
School Science ◽  
Middle School Science ◽  
Versus Content ◽  
Teacher Professional

scholarly journals Factors That Influence Curricular Adoption in a Sustainability Focused Marine Science Professional Development for In-Service Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Goodale
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Science ◽  
Marine Science ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

The focus of this article is on the evaluation and outcomes of a professional learning opportunity that focused on 13 current K–12 public school science educators in the United States. This teacher training concentrated on sustainability education that utilized marine sciences as a unifying concept. Findings from this training helped to identify models within teacher professional development in marine science that lead to comprehensive adoption of presented curricula. Four established models/frameworks of professional development were identified and their subsequent classroom implementation was evaluated. Results include adoption rates of the various session materials, the impact and effect size of differing variables (such as deliverables or standards alignment) among the four models and their frameworks and changes in perceptions towards sustainability initiatives. These outcomes underscore several methods and strategies for successful science teacher professional development implementation in regard to marine sciences.

scholarly journals Problem-Based Learning for Responsive and Transformative Teacher Professional Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-25
Author(s):  
Tom J. McConnell ◽  
Joyce M. Parker ◽  
Jan Eberhardt
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Teacher Professional

Educational reform should include teacher professional development (PD) to help educators learn how to implement new programs. This article shares a research-tested model of PD that uses the analytic framework of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to support professional learning. Evidence suggests that PBL is effective in changing content knowledge and pedagogical practice. To teach content, facilitators engage teachers in learning activities designed using common PBL structures. Stories about authentic phenomena present problems associated with specific concepts. Learners work in groups to analyze problems, seek additional information, and construct plausible solutions. This same approach can support Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to help teachers examine and revise their own teaching. In this model, teachers collaborate to identify “problems of teaching.” The group uses PBL to analyze information and solutions. Teachers research teaching strategies, test a proposed strategy, and analyze evidence to build new understandings of teaching.

Visiting Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK)

2018 ◽  
pp. 1091-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chien Yu ◽  
Dana Pomykal Franz
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Content Areas ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Professional Development For Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Quality Professional Development

The TPACK framework has been widely discussed for effective technology integration, and the literature has also indicated TPACK has significant implications for teacher education and professional development. The purpose of this chapter is to examine interconnectedness of TPACK and teacher professional development. This chapter reviews the research on TPACK and the extensive literature on quality professional development for teachers. In addition, the chapter highlights how various content areas have addressed pedagogical content knowledge and implications for practice in technology and teacher development. The chapter seeks to contribute knowledge about the structure of professional development initiatives that involve instructional technology and integration into various content knowledge disciplines.

Inside the Black Box: Examining Mediators and Moderators of a Middle School Science Intervention

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Desimone ◽  
Kirsten Lee Hill
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Implementation Fidelity ◽  
School Science ◽  
Middle School Science ◽  
Science Intervention

We use data from a randomized controlled trial of a middle school science intervention to explore the causal mechanisms by which the intervention produced previously documented gains in student achievement. Our study finds that implementation fidelity, operationalized as a measure of the frequency of implementation of the cognitive science principles taught in intervention teachers’ professional development, helped to explain student achievement effects. Integrating findings from a structural equation model using data from 10,281 students and 124 teachers with a small subsample of teacher interviews, we also found that the intervention may work partly through fostering better classroom management and collaborative discussions that elevated practice. Furthermore, our results have implications for informing decisions about how to balance a focus on increasing teacher content knowledge, on one hand, and providing explicit pedagogical strategies linked to the curriculum, on the other. We additionally found that lower achieving classrooms had lower implementation scores, likely due to factors that hindered teachers’ ability to use the cognitive science principles, such as less science class time or needing to adapt content to meet the needs of struggling students. Our study highlights the importance of anticipating—and calibrating interventions to—the contextual complexities of real-life classrooms, and it identifies several factors with the potential to contribute to improved design and evaluation of such interventions.

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