Professional Development

STRIDES supports teachers to customize the curriculum to address diverse students' evolving ideas and achieve the multi-dimensional proficiency called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). STRIDES catalyzes a new approach to teachers' curriculum customization. STRIDES will improve the evidence teachers have to make customization decisions by collaborating with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to advance natural language processing (NLP) methods.

Biologically-inspired design (BID) is a way of using principles from Nature to solve engineering design challenges. It is engaging, novel, and leverages sustainable technology produced by over 3 billion years of adaptation.

The SDLC project has developed and studied curriculum modules for non-AP high school statistics to promote interest and skills in statistical thinking and data analysis among diverse high school populations. Modules engage students with social-justice-themed data investigations using large-scale socioeconomic data from the U.S. Census Bureau and student-friendly online data visualization tools. Current study findings show growth in student interest and skills in statistical thinking and data analysis following module use.

Streams of Data is pursuing early stage research to address: How can the use of professionally collected, scientific data support the development of data literacy skills in elementary students, and what types of scaffolds are necessary to realize this potential? In the first year, baseline research examined the analytical thinking approaches children intuitively use when making meaning from different types of data with minimal scaffolding? We explored commonplace scenarios of data and conventional data representations.

Science Coordinators Advancing a Framework For Outstanding Leadership Development (SCAFFOLD) develops and studies a PD program for District Science Coordinators (DSCs) in one Southeastern state. DSCs can have partial or full responsibility for supporting science teachers in their districts, but little is known about their training and impact on teachers. The goal is to determine the impact of DSCs on teachers and if they are in need of PD to enhance their work with teachers.

Co-PI(s): Brooke A. Whitworth, Clemson University

The project is pursuing two coordinated goals associated with science teaching and learning in the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) create COVID-related curriculum materials and 2) conduct research on teaching and learning in the pandemic. We partnered with 12 teachers to create and enact a model-oriented, issue based curricular unit about COVID-19. Research efforts focus on how teachers enact the materials and how and where students get information about the pandemic as they are living through it.

Co-PI(s): Pa Friedrichsen and Laura Zangori, University of Missouri

To support equitable access to place-based science learning, the PeBLES2 team is developing and testing a model to support elementary teachers in incorporating locally relevant phenomena into instructional materials intentional designed to be locally-adapted. We are developing two units that could be used in any region across the country with built-in opportunities and embedded supports for teachers to purposefully adapt curriculum to include local phenomena. Professional learning experiences will further help teachers incorporate place-based approaches.

This project investigated whether a two-year intervention of modest follow-up support influenced the sustainability of outcomes for elementary teachers who had previously participated in professional development programs designed to improve science education. In this poster, we discuss the supports offered to teachers and the extent to which they used these supports. We also describe the impact of the follow-up supports on teachers' self-efficacy related to science teaching and on their instructional practices.

This study explored Bilingual and Dual Language (BDL) program models in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. We developed and validated a survey in Spanish and English (n=105) with three constructs: (a) recommended BLD practices; (b) personal qualities for S&E teaching; and (c) recommended S&E pedagogical practices. We found that BDL teachers were confident in their ability to facilitate their students’ biliteracy development but not related to S&E literacy in Spanish-speaking countries.