Scientific Reasoning Research Institute - teacher professional development

beatty-2009itc

ibeatty — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:56:00 +0000

Illuminating teacher change and professional development with CHAT

Beatty, Ian D.
Feldman, Allan

(2009)

In the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Garden Grove CA, Apr 20.

Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment (TEFA) is an innovative pedagogy for science and mathematics instruction. Teacher Learning of TEFA is a research project studying teacher change as in-service secondary science and mathematics teachers learn TEFA in the context of a multi-year professional development (PD) program. Applying cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to the linked activity systems of PD and teachers’ classroom practice leads to a model of teacher learning and pedagogical change in which TEFA is first introduced into classrooms as an object of activity, and then made useful as a tool for instruction, and then—in rare cases—incorporated into all elements of a deeply transformed practice. Different levels of contradiction within and between activity systems drive the transitions between stages. CHAT analysis also suggests that the primary contradiction within secondary education is a dual view of students as objects of instruction versus students as willful individuals; the difficulties arising from this contradiction can either inhibit or motivate TEFA adoption.

Attachment	Size
full text (PDF)	1.7 MB

lee-2009tic

ibeatty — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:16:14 +0000

Teachers' implementation of a classroom response system for formative assessment in secondary science and mathematics

Lee, Hyun Ju
Feldman, Allan
Beatty, Ian D.

(2009)

Conference paper accompanying a presentation at the 2009 Annual International Conference of the US National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Garden Grove CA, Apr 18.

This study of Technology Enhanced Formative Assessment (TEFA) reports on how secondary school science and math teachers learn to implement TEFA pedagogy using classroom response system technology, and identifies factors that impede implementation. We found that teachers struggled with both extrinsic factors, which are characteristics of the teacher's context that hinder them from implementing the technology and pedagogy, and intrinsic factors, which are characteristics of the teacher that impede implementation. The major extrinsic factors that we found are technology malfunctions, limitations, and availability of support; time and curriculum pressure; student attitudes and abilities; and characteristics of the TEFA professional development program. We found intrinsic factors of two separate types. The first type consists of gaps in teachers' knowledge and skills needed to operate the technology, develop TEFA questions, integrate TEFA into curriculum, orchestrate classroom discussion, and practice formative assessment. The second type consists of teachers' perspectives, beliefs, philosophy, attitudes, fears, doubts, uncertainties, background and experiences, which we collectively refer to as "ways of being a teacher."

Attachment	Size
Conference Paper (PDF)	936.4 KB

feldman-2008tlt

root — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:16:19 +0000

Teacher learning of technology-enhanced formative assessment

Feldman, Allan
Capobianco, Brenda M.

(2008)

Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(1):82–99.

This study examined the integration of technology enhanced formative assessment into teachers' practice. Participants were high school physics teachers interested in improving their use of a classroom response system (CRS) to promote formative assessment (FA). Data were collected using interviews, direct classroom observations, and collaborative discussions. The physics teachers engaged in collaborative action research to learn how to use FA and CRS to promote student and teacher learning. Data were analyzed using open coding, cross-case analysis, and content analysis. Results from data analysis allowed researchers to construct a model for knowledge skills necessary for the integration of technology enhanced formative assessment into teachers' practice. The model is as a set of four technologies: hardware and software; methods for constructing FA items; pedagogical methods; and curriculum integration. The model is grounded in the idea that teachers must develop these respective technologies as they interact with the CRS (i.e. hardware and software, item construction) and their existing practice (i.e. pedagogical methods, curriculum). Implications are that for teachers to make FA an integral part of their practice using CRS, they must: 1) engage in the four technologies; 2) understand the nature of FA; and 3) collaborate with other interested teachers through action research.

Attachment	Size
Complete article (PDF)	707.54 KB

beatty-2008tlt2

root — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:07:40 +0000

Teacher Learning of Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment

Beatty, Ian D.
Feldman, Allan
Leonard, William J.
Gerace, William J.
St. Cyr, Karen E.
Lee, Hyunju
Harris, Robby J.

(2008)

Conference paper accompanying a special symposium presented at the 2008 Annual International Conference of the US National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Baltimore, MD, Apr 01.

Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment (TEFA) is a pedagogy for teaching with classroom response technology. Teacher Learning of TEFA is a five-year research project studying teacher change, in the context of an intensive professional development program designed to help science and mathematics teachers learn TEFA. First, we provide an overview of the project's participating teachers, its intervention (consisting of the technology, the pedagogy, and the professional development program), and its research design. Then, we present narratives describing the unfolding change process experienced by four teachers. Afterward, we present some preliminary findings of the research, describe a "model for the co-evolution of teacher and pedagogy" that we are developing, and identify general implications for professional development.

Permalink(s): in ERIC database

Attachment	Size
Full conference paper (PDF)	355.8 KB