Teachers\u27 Professional Knowledge and Formative Assessment Practices: An Empirical Study from Middle School Earth Science Instruction in the Context of an Educational Improved Community

While there is widespread agreement that effective formative assessment supports student learning in science, the knowledge teachers need in order assess learning remains sparsely studied. In 1999, Magnusson, Krajcik, and Borko (MKB) proposed that Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK, Shulman 1986, 1987) is a distinct knowledge domain that synthesizes three base domains that include science subject matter, pedagogy, and context. The MKB model identified Assessment Knowledge as one of five components of PCK. Since 1999, several studies have used the MKB framework, but have left Assessment Knowledge underdefined. In 2012, Avargil, Herscovitz, and Dori proposed a revision based on empirical study, putting Assessment Knowledge outside of and above PCK. This empirical study seeks to clarify the theory and definition of Assessment Knowledge by investigating the knowledge teachers use when planning and carrying out formative assessment in their classrooms. Methods used in this study are grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006), phenomenology (Groenewald, 2004), and case study approaches (Yin, 2017). The data gathered to inform the study include multiple cycles of interviews with four teachers, observations of classroom teaching and assessment, and classroom artifacts including student work. In this thesis, case studies from two formative assessment cycles are presented and discussed. We found that in the context of teaching with new science materials, teachers relied on diverse knowledge to inform their assessment decisions. Orientations, a component of PCK according to the MKB model, influenced assessment decisions in ways that align with the MKB framework. But other aspects of how teachers’ PCK influenced assessment decisions can be better described using a modification to the MKB model that was introduced by Park and Chen in 2012. How professional knowledge shaped assessment decisions differed across cases, showing that interactions among the domains and components of professional knowledge are complex. In each case, the goals of assessment were for teachers to increase their Knowledge of Students and Knowledge of Instruction, which are both components of PCK according to the MKB framework. But the knowledge gained by teachers through the assessment process differed in the two cases. Lack of alignment across knowledge domains and components constrained learning in one case, while alignment supported learning in the other. One implication of these findings is that practicing the alignment of assessment tasks can be a pathway for teachers to develop their professional knowledge as they synthesize multiple knowledge domains and components, and test and reflect on their decisions. Another implication is that refinement of current theoretical frameworks may be needed in order to better illustrate the shaping role of orientation as well as the complex influencing relationships among the knowledge domains and components. This study motivates additional case studies to understand factors that shape how knowledge domains and components interact, as well as further investigation of ways to support teachers in developing alignment across the domains and components of their knowledge

Investing in Teachers’ Leadership Capacity: A Model from STEM Education

Teachers play a key role in the quality of education provided to students. The Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center) at the University of Maine has worked with partners to design, implement, and evaluate several programs in the past eight years to provide professional learning opportunities and support for Maine’s STEM teachers, leading to significant impacts for teachers and students across the state. A strategic investment in developing teacher leadership capacity played a key role in expanding the initial partnership to include teachers and school districts across the state. With support from education researchers and staff at the RiSE Center, STEM teachers have taken on roles as leaders of professional learning opportunities for peers and as decision makers in a statewide professional community for improving STEM education. This article describes the structures that have fostered teacher leadership and how those structures emerged through partnership and collaboration, the ways in which teacher leadership has amplified the resources we have been able to provide to STEM teachers across the state, and the outcomes for Maine students

Teacher awareness of problematic facets of meaningful metaphors of energy

How teachers respond to students depends, in part, on what they see in their students’ thinking. In a teacher professional development setting, we asked teachers to provide possible incorrect responses and explanations that students might give when discussing the gravitational potential energy of identical hikers walking to the summit of a mountain along different paths, from the same starting point. Teachers were aware of the common difficulties that students might have, including (1) energy is “used up” because of travel time, travel distance, or the effort exerted during travel (2) double-counting work and energy, and (3) energy being an intrinsic property of the hiker. Several of these difficulties use the metaphor of energy as a substance-like quantity, but teachers never made explicit that they were aware of the value of this metaphor in thinking about energy. We discuss the need for teachers to respond to multiple grain sizes of student thinking, including the metaphors they use and the different and at times problematic facets of each.La manera en que los maestros responden a los alumnos depende, en parte, de lo que ven en el pensamiento de los estudiantes. En un curso de capacitación, le pedimos a maestros que proporcionaran la posible respuesta incorrecta y la explicación de qué explicaciones podrían dar al analizar la energía gravitacional potencial de unos excursionistas idénticos caminando hacia la cumbre de una montaña por diferentes veredas, iniciando desde el mismo punto. Los maestros reconocían las dificultades comunes que los estudiantes podrían tener, incluyendo (1) la energía es “usada” en el tiempo viajado, distancia recorrida, o el esfuerzo requerido durante el viaje, (2) contar doblemente el trabajo y la energía, y (3) considerar la energía como una propiedad intrínseca del excursionista. Muchas de esas dificultades utilizan la metáfora de la energía como una cantidad del tipo sustancia, pero los maestros nunca hicieron explícito que ellos estaban al tanto del valor de dicha metáfora la pensar en energía. Discutimos la necesidad de los maestros a responder a las múltiples maneras de pensar de los estudiantes, incluyendo metáforas que usan así como las facetas que pueden ser problemáticas en ocasiones.

OneFlorida Certified Database 04/27/2018

OneFlorida certified database as of 04/27/201