Thank you for taking the time to watch our video! We hope you find the description of our PD model and the strategies used to support change in teacher practice helpful. Our research team found significant increases in the following areas:

1. Increased use of Arguing from Evidence in the classroom.
2. Increased use of hands-on science and engineering.
3. Specific instructional strategies that encourage the use of data and evidence, particularly the use of science notebooks to promote data collections, graphing, using patterns to make predictions and reflective writing.

We are especially interested in discussion regarding the impacts identified by our research team, but please feel free to comment on any aspect of our project. Thanks!

Having teachers be learners for a while like this is a "two-fer" -- the leaders can model good inquiry-oriented pedagogy, while the teachers are immersed in the experience (and the fun) of learning and sense-making.  

     The video starts off talking about "21st century skills, "  a term that I've always found ill-defined -- most lists include things that were being advocated in 1920 :)  What do they look like in your program?

I'm intrigued in the notion of "teacher leaders"- what kinds of leadership roles do teachers assume following completion of the program 

Deborah,

We have been very pleased with the leadership roles PISA2 teachers have taken on. They have provided PD workshops within their schools and districts, become leaders of science PLCs, joined building and district level curriculum writing teams and have presented at state and national science conferences. We also have teachers who are coauthoring manuscripts for publication in NSTA journals!

~Kathy & Katherine

Kathy and Katherine,

We're glad to see EiE working so well in your program! We always emphasize the importance of professional development to districts that are adopting EiE because we've seen many of the same results you have. When teachers are excited and confident about engineering, their students have limitless potential.

-Christine

Kathy,

You mention that you collected evidence from classroom visits and a teacher practices survey.  Could you tell us a little about your research process?  What was your experience collecting and analyzing data? 

Thanks, Sara

Hello, Sara -

Our external evaluator conducted a longitudinal survey of teachers’ instructional practices to examine changes over the course of teachers’ involvement in the PISA2 program. Teacher Leaders take the survey at the start of their program (summer institute) and at the end of the school year. Many Leaders have participated in more than one Institute and over multiple years. The data suggest that teachers have increased the number of hands-on science and engineering activities and are experimenting with the targeted practices evidence-based explanation and the engineering design process.  

In addition, the external evaluator conducted a small qualitative study to find out more about the ways participating teachers integrate the engineering design process (EDP) into their science teaching and the challenges they face in doing so.  Teacher interviews, classroom observation and artefactual data including teacher lesson plans and samples of student work have been collected and are currently being analyzed.  Preliminary findings suggest: (1) teachers with more PISA2 experience are using EDP in their classrooms, (2) teachers were observed facilitating group work and encouraging divergent thinking and strategies, (3) EDP is perceived as beneficial for diverse learners because all students can participate, (4) Teachers perceive engineering as more a problem solving and student centered than scientific inquiry, and (5) All teachers face time and resource constraints however those teachers who are not using EDP are in the midst of larger school and district reform efforts.

Our PD model also included 2 coaching visits for each participant. Reporting from the coaching team reflects similar trends that the evaluator observed. Each teacher received 2 visits during the school year to support teachers with planning, implementation and reflection of content and strategies introduced over the summer institute.

Katherine and Kathy

Interesting and engaging work with teachers -- and I see that there are many questions about teachers and their ability to transfer what they are learning to other contexts. Have you considered leveraging what you are already doing in ways that might more explicitly educate teachers about strategies to transfer and apply what they are learning in this content/context, to other areas of science content they must teach? Any suggestions for specific work from you project that might help with this challenge?