Professional Development

STEM Categorization:

Day:

Thu

Join a discussion with panelists from several projects about project model designs, initial findings, and implementation challenges associated with formative assessment in mathematics.

Date/Time:

2:15 pm to 3:45 pm

Presenters:

Alison Castro Superfine

Location:

Session Materials:

In this session, four projects will share their work on formative assessment and mathematics learning trajectories, and participants will discuss the implications for formative assessment practices in mathematics.

Session Types:

Concurrent Session

Read more about Improving Student Learning and Teacher Practice in Mathematics: A Focus on Formative Assessment

Expanding Opportunities for STEM Teacher Leadership

Policy

Professional Development

Systems Reform

Teacher Attitudes/Beliefs

STEM Categorization:

Day:

Thu

Learn about issues, opportunities, and models of teacher leadership to create transformative learning environments and improve education policy and decision making.

Date/Time:

2:15 pm to 3:45 pm

Presenters:

Location:

Session Materials:

Report: Exploring Opportunities for STEM Teacher Leadership

Report: STEM Learning is Everywhere

Report: Science Teachers' Learning

Effective teachers are crucial to efforts in improving student learning in K-12 STEM education. Effective teaching may be enhanced through innovative professional development that takes into account the stage of a teacher’s career continuum and opportunities for teachers to use their knowledge and wisdom of practice in various leadership capacities.

Session Types:

Concurrent Session

Read more about Expanding Opportunities for STEM Teacher Leadership

Co-Design Processes to Support the Development of Educational Innovations

Curriculum

Educational Technology

Implementation

Professional Development

STEM Categorization:

Day:

Thu

Join a discussion about co-design approaches that can help ensure that educational innovations are designed and used to support teaching and learning in early childhood.

Date/Time:

11:15 am to 12:00 pm

Facilitators:

Marion Goldstein

Location:

Truman

Session Types:

Concurrent “Short Talk”

Read more about Co-Design Processes to Support the Development of Educational Innovations

Professional Development Approaches to Strengthen Collaboration among Educators with Different Roles to Improve Student Math Learning

ELL

Equity

Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Professional Development

STEM Categorization:

Day:

Thu

Discuss the benefits and challenges of creating mathematics professional development that brings together educators with different roles to build knowledge, practices, and collaboration for teaching students with diverse needs.

Date/Time:

9:30 am to 11:00 am

Presenters:

Location:

Session Materials:

In order to broaden the participation of underrepresented student groups, such as students with disabilities and English Language Learners (ELL), mathematics professional development (PD) programs need to include educators with different areas of expertise, not just mathematics teachers. This session will focus on the benefits and challenges of creating effective PD programs that bring together educators with different roles to build knowledge, practices, and collaboration for improving the mathematics learning of all students.

Session Types:

Concurrent Session

Read more about Professional Development Approaches to Strengthen Collaboration among Educators with Different Roles to Improve Student Math Learning

Problematizing and Assessing Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Ways of Thinking

Disciplinary Content Knowledge

Learning Progression

Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Professional Development

STEM Categorization:

Day:

Thu

Engage with presenters as they discuss assessment and rubrics designed to measure secondary teachers’ mathematical habits of mind.

Date/Time:

9:30 am to 11:00 am

Presenters:

Location:

Session Materials:

Work in secondary mathematics education takes many approaches to content, pedagogy, professional development and assessment. This session aims to illuminate the richness of hte content of secondary mathematics and the field of secondary mathematics education by sharing two such approaches and reflecting on the differences and commonalities between the two.

Session Types:

Concurrent Session

Read more about Problematizing and Assessing Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Ways of Thinking

Perspectives on Solution Diversity and Divergent Thinking in K–12 Engineering Design Learning Experiences

Educational Technology

Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Professional Development

STEM Categorization:

Day:

Thu

Consider multiple approaches to valuing, supporting, and studying the diversity of students’ solutions to design problems through poster presentations and small-group discussion.

Date/Time:

9:30 am to 11:00 am

Presenters:

Location:

Session Materials:

“Solution diversity” has been proposed as one key characteristic that distinguishes engineering design from other disciplinary pursuits. Engineering designers recognize that for any design problem, there will be multiple acceptable solutions, and informed designers have been found to strive for “idea fluency” through divergent thinking techniques that assist them in exploring the design space (Crismond & Adams, 2012).

Session Types:

Concurrent Session

Read more about Perspectives on Solution Diversity and Divergent Thinking in K–12 Engineering Design Learning Experiences

On the Design and Implementation of Practical Measures to Support Instructional Improvement at Scale

Assessment

Classroom Practice

Professional Development

STEM Categorization:

Day:

Thu

Learn about two efforts to design and implement practical measures of science and mathematics teaching to inform school and district instructional improvement efforts.

Date/Time:

9:30 am to 11:00 am

Presenters:

Location:

Session Materials:

In contrast to evaluative research that uses accountability measures, improvement science research (Bryk, Gomez, Grunow, & LeMahieu, 2015), using practical measures is designed to provide practitioners with frequent, rapid feedback that enables them to assess and adjust instruction during the process of implementation. The resulting data is potentially of use to multiple stakeholders. For example, practical measures can orient teachers to attend to key aspects of the classroom that might be invisible to them.

Session Types:

Concurrent Session

References:

Bryk, A. S., Gomez, L. M., Grunow, A., & LeMahieu, P. (2015). Learning to improve: How America's schools can get better at getting better.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Yeager, D., Bryk, A. S., Muhich, J., Hausman, H., & Morales, L. (2013). Practical measurement. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. Stanford, CA.

Kara Jackson, Jessica Thompson

Read more about On the Design and Implementation of Practical Measures to Support Instructional Improvement at Scale

An Innovative Approach to Earth Science Teacher Preparation: Uniting Science, Informal Science Education, and Schools to Raise Student Achievement

Earth Science

Professional Development

Teaching Science Teachers [Video file]. (2013, December 15). Retrived from http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000002602875/teaching-science-te...

Access Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000002602875/teaching-science-teachers.h...

Author/Presenter:

Chris Cascarano

Snigdha Koirala

Lead Organization(s):

American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)

Year:

2013

Short Description:

The American Museum of Natural History is offering a master's degree in teaching, part of a broad national campaign to add 100,000 science, technology and math teachers by 2021

Read more about An Innovative Approach to Earth Science Teacher Preparation: Uniting Science, Informal Science Education, and Schools to Raise Student Achievement

Productivity of “collisions generate heat” for reconciling an energy model with mechanistic reasoning: A case study

Physics

Professional Development

Scherr, R. E. & Robertson, A. D. (2015). The productivity of ‘collisions generate heat’ for reconciling an energy model with mechanistic reasoning: A case study. Physical Review Special Topics – Physics Education Research 11(1), 010111-1 – 010111-16.

Access Link:

http://journals.aps.org/prper/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.010111

Author/Presenter:

Rachel E. Scherr

Amy D. Robertson

Lead Organization(s):

Seattle Pacific University (SPU)

Year:

2015

Short Description:

We observe teachers in professional development courses about energy constructing mechanistic accounts of energy transformations. We analyze a case in which teachers investigating adiabatic compression develop a model of the transformation of kinetic energy to thermal energy. Among their ideas is the idea that thermal energy is generated as a byproduct of individual particle collisions, which is represented in science education research literature as an obstacle to learning. We demonstrate that in this instructional context, the idea that individual particle collisions generate thermal energy is not an obstacle to learning, but instead is productive: it initiates intellectual progress. Specifically, this idea initiates the reconciliation of the teachers’ energy model with mechanistic reasoning about adiabatic compression, and leads to a canonically correct model of the transformation of kinetic energy into thermal energy. We claim that the idea’s productivity is influenced by features of our particular instructional context, including the instructional goals of the course, the culture of collaborative sense making, and the use of certain representations of energy.

Read more about Productivity of “collisions generate heat” for reconciling an energy model with mechanistic reasoning: A case study

Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum: The Impact of Internal Barriers and Training Intensity on Computer Integration in the Elementary School Classroom

Technology

Professional Development

Teacher Attitudes/Beliefs

Coleman, L. O., Gibson, P., Cotten, S. R., Howell-Moroney, M., & Stringer, K. (2015). Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum: The Impact of Internal Barriers and Training Intensity on Computer Integration in the Elementary School Classroom. Journal of Educational Computing Research. doi: 10.1177/073563311561664.

Access Link:

http://jec.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/12/14/0735633115616645.abstract

Author/Presenter:

LaToya O. Coleman

Philip Gibson

Shelia R. Cotten

Michael Howell-Moroney

Kristi Stringer

Lead Organization(s):

Michigan State University (MSU)

Year:

2015

Short Description:

This study examines the relationship between internal barriers, professional development, and computer integration outcomes among a sample of fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in an urban, low-income school district in the Southeastern United States. Specifically, we examine the impact of teachers’ computer attitudes, computer anxiety, and computer training on the quality of computer integration in their classrooms. Using data from the Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum project, we utilize a mixed-methods approach to explore these relationships. Our results indicate that teacher attitudes and participation in an intensive computer-based training have a positive effect on computer integration practices. Findings from this study support providing teachers with more computer-based training which aims to improve the quality of classroom integration. This may lead to improvements in teacher attitudes toward computing and an increase in levels of computer integration in the elementary school classroom.

Read more about Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum: The Impact of Internal Barriers and Training Intensity on Computer Integration in the Elementary School Classroom

Professional Development

Pages