46 research outputs found
Changing Roles and Identities in a Teacher Driven Professional Development Community
In a climate where teachers feel deprofessionalized at the hands of
regulations, testing, and politics, it is vital that teachers become empowered
both in their own teaching and as agents of change. This physics education
research study investigates the Streamline to Mastery professional development
program, in which the teachers design professional development opportunities
for themselves and for fellow teachers. The research reported here describes
the process of teacher professional growth through changes in roles and
identities. Videos, emails, and interviews were analyzed to glean insight into
practice and participation shifts as these physical science teachers formed a
community and engaged in their own classroom research. Implications for the
role of PER in teacher professional development and teacher preparation will be
discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Physics Education Research Conference 2011
Proceedings, Finalist in the PERC 2011 proceedings paper awar
Teaching to Learn: iPads as Tools for Transforming Physics Student Roles
Students who serve as Learning Assistants (LAs) and have the opportunity to
teach the content they are learning, while also studying effective teaching
pedagogy, have demonstrated achievement gains in advanced content courses and
positive shifts in attitudes about learning science [V. Otero, S. Pollock & N.
Finkelstein, Amer J Physics 78, 11 (2010)]. Although the LA experience is also
valuable for high school students, the tight schedule and credit requirements
of advanced high school students limit opportunities for implementing
traditional LA programs at the high school level. In order to provide high
school physics students with an LA-like experience, iPads were used as tools
for students to synthesize screencast video tutorials for students to access,
review and evaluate. The iPads were utilized in a one-to-one tablet-to-student
environment throughout the course of an entire school year. This research
investigates the impact of a one-to-one iPad environment and the use of iPads
to create teaching-to-learn (TtL) experiences on student agency and attitudes
toward learning science. Project funded by NSF grant # DUE 934921.Comment: Proc. 2013 Physics Education Research Conference. AIP Pres
Associations between learning assistants, passing introductory physics, and equity: A quantitative critical race theory investigation
Many STEM degrees require passing an introductory physics course. Physics
courses often have high failure rates that may disproportionately harm students
who are marginalized by racism, sexism, and classism. We examined the
associations between Learning Assistant (LA) supported courses and equity in
non-passing grades (i.e., d, drop, fail, or withdrawal; DFW) in introductory
physics courses. The data used in the study came from 2312 students in 41
sections of introductory physics courses at a regional Hispanic serving
institution. We developed hierarchical generalized linear models of student DFW
rates that accounted for gender, race, first-generation status and LA-supported
instruction. We used a quantitative critical race theory (QuantCrit)
perspective focused on the role of hegemonic power structures in perpetuating
inequitable student outcomes. Our QuantCrit perspective informed our research
questions, methods, and interpretations of findings. The models associated LAs
with overall decreases in DFW rates and larger decreases in DFW rates for
students of color than their white peers. While the inequities in DFW rates
were lower in LA-supported courses, they were still present.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure