Abstract
Online education is a rapidly growing phenomenon for science teachers. Using a sample of 40 online science courses for teachers offered during the 2004–2005 academic year, the Learning Science Online (LSO) study examines the nature and variety of instructional methods and activities as well as communication, and students’ perceptions of supports within the course. This research is unique in that it is the first aggregate study of online science courses offered by a wide variety of educational programs. Descriptive analyses suggest the instructional methods employed in online science courses for teachersinclude frequent use of online discussions and students participated in minds-on activities, including articulation and reflection on their scientific ideas, posing questions, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions from evidence. Hands-on instructional activities were rarely used, and pen-and-paper and collaborative instructional activities were occasionally used. Technology was used primarily for communications such as discussion boards, email, and chat, but there were very few other computerbasedtools used within the courses. Students felt supported by instructors, other students, and the course design.
Highlights
Online education is a rapidly growing industry [1, 2, 3] that suits the needs of many teachers by addressing issues of geographical remoteness, limited offerings by institutions, and their complex lives [4]
Beginning in 2004, the Learning Science Online project has studied 40 online science courses designed for teachers to ask questions about (a) who takes online courses for teachers, (b) who teaches them, (c) who delivers them, and (d) what does teaching and learning look like in these courses as well as (e) what characteristics of these courses correlate with student performance
Learning Science Online (LSO) is a mixed-method longitudinal study of 40 online science courses for K– 12 teachers offered during the 2004–2005 academic year
Summary
Online education is a rapidly growing industry [1, 2, 3] that suits the needs of many teachers by addressing issues of geographical remoteness, limited offerings by institutions, and their complex lives [4]. The teacher professional development community discovered early that online programs could offer “anytime, anywhere” education for working science teachers [5], and today there are entire master’s degree programs online for science teachers. Teachers take these courses to improve their content knowledge, and for professional certification and advancement. There are relatively few studies examining online science learning [6] and none to date that have examined more than a few courses. This paper focuses on the nature of teaching and learning in these courses
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