The Role of Feedback in Teacher Professional Development

This paper examines how professional development (PD) facilitators obtain feedback about the effectiveness of sessions they facilitate and to what extent feedback is an integral part of their planning.  Three professional development facilitators with varying degrees of experience served as participants in this study.  One-on-one semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, and the data were analyzed utilizing an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA). The findings showed that the participants obtained feedback from teachers using different methods before, during, and after their professional development sessions. The facilitators used feedback to plan and check the effectiveness of their sessions, and feedback was an integral part of their professional development work.

Trainers\u27 perspectives of teacher professional development

Considerable attention in the literature has been given to perspectives of teachers and administrators regarding effectiveness of professional development for teachers. However, there is a paucity of research regarding perspectives of trainers and facilitators of professional development for educators. Thus, this dissertation study focused on trainers’ perspectives on effective professional development. More specifically, the study investigated these research questions: (1) What goals and objectives do trainers set for their professional development sessions?; (2) How do trainers facilitate professional development?; (3) How do trainers know they achieved the goals and objectives of their professional development?; (4a) Why do trainers do what they do and in the manner they do it?; and (4b) Why do they think their approach is effective? This study utilized a qualitative research design, and more particularly a phenomenological approach using semi-structured interviews. The participants consisted of three professional development facilitators with varying degrees of experience. Data were analyzed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis method (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). The findings showed that professional development facilitators set goals for their professional development sessions based on teachers’ instructional needs and then provide active learning opportunities tailored to teachers’ needs and interests. They seek feedback from teachers and schools to determine if they have achieved their professional development goals. The feedback also helps them to find out if the professional development has met the schools’ and teachers’ expectations. In addition, four themes emerged from the findings. Implications of the findings for effective professional development and future research directions are provided

How About the Real Responders\u27 Perceptions? A Comparative Case Study on School Principals\u27 Perceptions of School Administration Through Metaphors in USA and Turkey

Expectations of school administration changed dramatically over the course of the 20th century. Today, the roles and responsibilities of school administrators must be re-defined for success in the 21st century. The current research aimed at revealing the perception of school leadership by school administrators who were expected to cope with problems and enable students to succeed in the U.S. and Turkey. Comparative case study design was used to analyze and compare the U.S. and Turkey school administrators’ perceptions of school leadership through metaphors. The study sample consisted of 47 school administrators employed in K-12 schools in Turkey and the U.S. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview form. Data obtained were analyzed through content analysis. As a result, 47 participants defined school administration through 43 different metaphors. Participants used 23 positive, 13 negative, and 11 neutral metaphors to define school administration. Within these three categories, five themes emerged: porter (13 metaphors), firefighter (11 metaphors), father (10 metaphors), captain (7 metaphors), and maestro (6 metaphors). Although participants from two countries used mostly different metaphors, school administration was perceived similarly in Turkey and the US. This showed that in both countries, school administrators take on similar responsibilities and roles. The most distinct difference between the school administrators in the two countries was that school administrators from Turkey more unfavorably approach the job they take on, while school administrators from the U.S. defined their job as being more complicated

Fossil Mobiles: Exploring the Process of Art as Science Inquiry for Elementary Students through a Grounded Theory Study

Arts integration into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subject areas is currently an important area of investigation. This study developed a grounded theory of how artmaking of a mobile related to fossil life of the Devonian period engendered geoscience inquiry. Data were collected from elementary students entering fourth to sixth grade (7 male, 9 female) attending a week-long summer camp at a Midwestern university. Students engaged in a daily hour-long class creating fossil mobiles and learning geoscience content through illustrated slide shows, form and function sets of materials related to Devonian fossils, fossil books, and a fossil hunter- fossil find matching game. The art fossil mobile was constructed of painted dowel rods suspended from a beaded string with four craft fossils (traced onto clear plastic and back-painted or stenciled onto canvas) attached to the ends of the rods. The grounded theory research design identified seven major repeating interactions among the triad of art, science, and students: (1) art promoting science inquiry, (2) art aspects positively influencing science learning, (3) science learning increasing interest in fossils, (4) science influencing art, (5) student-centered artwork increasing desire for more art knowledge, (6) student-centered art providing connections to science, and (7) student-centered science increasing interest in fossils. Implications for educators include integrating art activities into science lessons, thereby providing engagement and motivation for students, supporting students’ fine motor skills development, and building a community of learners. Geoscience educators should consider the positive cyclical effects of art-science-student interactions identified in this study

Creative Product Problem-solving Game

Creativity is a talent that undergirds invention and innovation, making it an important skill in today’s society. Although students are often told to “be creative,” they many times do not know how and have little practice in this skill. This document presents an analysis of 33 creative products made by adult participants at a state conference for educators working with preK-12 gifted students or their teachers as a model for what teachers can do in their classrooms to allow students to practice creative thinking. During the conference presentation, Torrance’s creative strengths were reviewed with photographic examples, definitions, and suggestions printed on handouts. For the problem-solving game, each participant was given an identical set of recycled/craft materials, and about 30 minutes to create an object or scene fitting with a given theme. This presentation was delivered each of the two days of the conference with a different theme each day: “under water” was the theme the first day and “cool space” was the theme for the products on the second day. Participants each created an object that exhibited creative strengths and followed game-rules using the additional tools of scissors, glue, markers, and thread. Photographs of the final products are shown with their creative strengths identified. Most participants were successful in developing products that showed five creative strengths as required by the game rules. The most common approach to making a creative product that exhibited creative strengths was to tell an original story involving some motion that was detailed, artistically appealing, or humorous, and contained characters with emotional expressions. Because of the success and enthusiasm of participants for the game, the authors recommend it for students, clubs, and recreational activities. [7 Tables, 33 Figures, 6 References