Psyched to work! An extracurricular job shadowing and professional development program to enhance the career value of a psychology bachelor’s degree.

The backbone of any successful and effective educational organization is a high-quality teaching staff. It follows that a well-designed professional development (PD) program is needed for preparing competent teachers. This case study, which took place in School "X", used quantitative and qualitative research method and data analysis to find answers to the following research questions: "What are the attitudes of the secondary and middle school teachers at "School X" regarding the effect of the school's professional development programs on the quality of their teaching practices and motivation? How do teachers' attitudes compare (Science/Non-science; Middle/ Secondary; Female/ Male) regarding professional development? What are teachers' recommendations to improve the quality of the professional development program provided by their school?" Questionnaires, focus group interviews and observations were conducted to collect and triangulate data results. Participants included all middle and secondary teachers of the Beirut Campus of school X (160 teachers), while each interview session was conducted with five (in the case of middle school teachers) or six teachers (in the case of secondary school teachers), representing different departments. Finally, the observation sessions targeted the in-service day (academic and recreational parts), SPEC (Student centered problem based experiential and collaborative learning), Study groups, and Outreach. It was found that teachers regard professional development program in their school as beneficial in general but could be enhanced further. Although the attitude of novice teachers towards professional development is more favorable than that of veteran teachers, findings show that the overall teachers' attitude towards professional development is a negative one. Modifications and suggestions to improve the quality of the professional development activities at school X were proposed by the teachers. In conclusion, School X offers a prosperous professional development program, but its fruitfulness will remain limited unless a more systematic organizational structure is created.

Science teaching belief-practice alignment is critical for ensuring high-quality, effective instruction that supports young children's learning and engagement in science. The goal of this study is to examine the alignment between preschool and kindergarten teachers' self-reported science teaching beliefs and observed practices before and after a science teaching professional development (PD) program and to explore whether the alignment is associated with children's science learning outcomes. The research questions are: (1) Whether and to what extent do science teaching beliefs and practices align before and after the PD program? (2) Whether and to what extent are science teaching beliefs associated with children's inquiry skills before and after the PD program? A total of 22 preschool and kindergarten teachers and 159 children (Mage = 47.78 months) from a Northwest state in the U.S. participated in a science teaching PD program. Teachers' self-reported science teaching efficacy and observed teaching practices and children's directly assessed science inquiry skills were measured before and after a one-year science PD program. Multilevel regression results revealed that science teaching beliefs were not correlated with practice before the PD but were significantly aligned following its completion. Further, while teachers' science teaching beliefs were not associated with children's inquiry skills before the PD, a positive correlation emerged after the PD. Our findings suggest the potential of targeted PD programs in fostering early childhood teachers' science teaching belief-practice alignment. The results also indicate that teachers' science teaching beliefs may not be a robust predictor of children's science learning outcomes unless they are aligned with teaching practices.

Professional development (PD) programmes take a wide variety of forms. Lloyd and Davis (2018) present a model to map the diversity of PD programmes based on the extent to which intrinsic control of learning was afforded to the teachers by the PD. In this study, Lloyd and Davis’s model was applied to map two different PD programmes. Both programmes aimed to achieve similar outcomes, they ran over a similar timeframe of 2 years, and both were targeted at early career teachers (ECTs). Yet, despite these similarities, the ECTs mapped the programmes differently onto the model, and the extent to which the programme outcomes were achieved also varied. The degree to which ECTs considered that the PD afforded them a sense of control and an influence over the direction of their learning was found to be associated with the extent to which the intended programme outcomes were met. Building in an optimal balance of autonomy supportive opportunities into PD programmes is likely to be an important feature of their success.

Teacher feedback during active learning : the development and evaluation of a professional development program

Construction industry comprises a high degree of competition; the performance of construction projects is highly affected by the performance of civil engineers who are the core of construction productivity. Professional development is one of the essential milestones toward improving the performance of civil engineers. This paper, critically, evaluates the professional development and training of civil engineers in Baghdad. This encompassed the study of the existing programs offered for the professional development, the expected impact, and suggestions. Data were collected from 113 professional civil engineers about the existing professional development programs and training courses and analyzed. Large variations were found in terms of the time spent for professional development, despite the fact that they are comparable to some developed countries. Pitfalls in the field of professional training and development were clear. Remedial suggestions including professional development program and appraisal system were presented. It was emphasized that collaborative efforts by all stakeholders are required to ensure sustainable professional development.

Background:�Primary care services, as recommended by the National Health Security Office (NHSO), are crucial for Thai community pharmacists. Training needs for the services and a professional development or training program however remained unexplored. Objectives:�To analyze community pharmacists' training needs and develop professional development programs to meet their needs.�Methods:�A mixed-methods study with two phases was conducted during 2018-2019. Phase 1 was involved in the needs assessment using semi-structured interview with 10 key informants who were community pharmacists and stakeholders based on three levels (i.e. tasks, person, and organization) and needs confirmation with a self-administered questionnaire surveyed in community pharmacists.The questionnaire was specially designed, checked for content validity and posted to randomly selected pharmacists using a systematic sampling technique. Some professional development programs were then constructed according to the gaps analysis of important tasks and performance levels. Phase 2 was the pharmacists' perceptions and verification of the programs using a focus group of nine key participants who were pharmacy preceptors and practicing pharmacists. Results: Pharmacists' training needs for primary care services were qualitatively analyzed with 14 themes. The themes, together with core competencies and NHSO's specified duties, were used to draft the questionnaire containing seven domains with 44 tasks, i.e., management (8 tasks), basic services�(4), follow-up plan (5), advanced services�(11),�health promotion for community services (5), health promotion for service users (5), and behavioral modifications (6). The response rate of the survey was 28% (365/1,289). Three development programs, i.e. depression screening, home visit, and family planning, were proposed based on the top three widest gaps between the important tasks and performance levels. For the focus group, they sll agreed on the three model programs and preferred a one-day training session. Conclusion: Training needs for primary care services were successfully analyzed and three professional development programs were proposed and accepted. Further studies are required to adjust and assess the priority training programs for community pharmacists.

Journal article reviewing is often considered an unexplored or unknown practice. There is limited discussion about it, and what there is often rests on assumptions that reviewers are experienced and have knowledge about the topic of the article review, and that the model of practice involves double-blind reviewing. This curriculum review investigates a professional development program for article reviewers which was introduced by an educational journal in response to its reviewers’ request for professional development. The curriculum was based on a community of practice model and was reviewed by inviting stories of experience from the program participants. The review highlights that professional development initiatives can be evaluated based on participants’ perception of improvement in practice, and that hidden practice elements exist in any professional practice development program, and these can also be enhanced by professional development. The implications of this realisation for academic development practice emphasise not only the viability of a community of practice model for professional development but the value of participant stories in evaluating the impact of such initiatives.

This study describes a professional development (PD) program designed to support middle school teachers in effectively integrating robotics in science and mathematics classrooms. The PD program encouraged the teachers to develop their own science and mathematics lessons, aligned with national standards, infused with robotic activities. A multi-week summer PD and sustained academic year follow-up imparted to the teachers the technical knowledge and skills of robotics as well as an understanding of when and how to use robotics in science and mathematics teaching. The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of the robotics-integrated PD program through the changes of teachers’ technological-pedagogical-and-content knowledge self-efficacy, the improvement in their content knowledge of robotics in the context of science and mathematics teaching, and their reflections on the PD. The 41 participants consisted of 20 mathematics and 20 science teachers and one teacher who teaches both subjects. Three instruments were administered to the teachers during the PD, and follow-up interviews were conducted to further examine benefits and possible impacts on their teaching resulting from the PD. The data were analyzed by both statistical and qualitative methods to identify the effectiveness of the PD. The findings of the study indicate that the PD program was effective in increasing participants’ robotics content knowledge and confidence and outcome expectancy while integrating robotics in their teaching practices. Based on teacher reflections and follow-up interviews, this study offers guidelines for future development of technology-integrated science and mathematics teaching.

The Nature of Science (NOS) is an important component of science literacy, which is the main vision of science teaching programs. In contrast, science teachers face significant problems in transferring the nature of science to classroom practices. Science teachers' classroom practices are influenced by their belief in learning and teaching. Therefore, the development of teachers' beliefs in learning and teaching the NOS is important for the development of classroom practices. Thus, in this research, the effect of a continuing professional development (CPD) program aimed at improving science teachers’ professional competences related to the NOS on their beliefs about learning and teaching of the NOS was searched. 18 volunteered science teachers participated in the research. A single group pretest-posttest experimental design was used in the study. The data were collected using the ‘’Beliefs About Reformed Science Teaching and Learning (BARSTL)’’developed by Sampson and Benton (2006) and the ‘’Scale of Self-Efficacy Belief About Teaching the Nature of Science’’ developed by researchers. Pre-test and post-test performances of the teachers were compared using the Wilcoxon test. As a result of the research, it has been shown that the CPD program is effective in developing teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about teaching the NOS and teachers’ beliefs for reform approaches. Findings show that science teachers' self-efficacy beliefs are quite high, even though their views on the nature of science are inadequate before the professional development program. There is a risk that teachers who have inadequate views and misconceptions about NOS but who are eager to teach and who have high self-efficacy will be an obstacle to the education of science literate individuals. This has further clarified the need for CPD programs that will enable them to face current misconceptions and support their classroom practices, without compromising teachers' enthusiasm and self-efficacy about NOS that is important component of scientific literacy. For this reason, it has been proposed to increase the number of such professional development programs in accordance with the changing professional development paradigms.

This past five years has seen a drastic reform takes over in English Language Education. The reform prompts a significant change in the field of teaching, learning and the assessment system. To note, the recent implementation of CEFR-aligned Classroom-Based Assessment (CEFR CBA) demands teachers to be a comprehensive implementer in assessing students within their teaching and learning practices. As this enactment is concerned, teachers’ professional development (TPD) program plays the crucial roles to ensure teachers are well equipped with the content and pedagogical knowledge in the new policy. TPD has become an important professional learning medium for teachers in the aim of increasing their professionalism to enact educational change. Hence, this study was conducted to explore the enactment of teachers’ professional development program within two main contexts which are at the meso (school) and macro (education department) level. This study revealed that the enactment of TPD program for CEFR CBA was largely transmissive but lacking the sense of practicality to ensure the dispersion of knowledge can happened throughout the entire cascade system. Several challenges like the uncertainty to conduct in-house training, non-option teachers, participants engagement and limited time was discovered to become the factors which impede the effectiveness of TPD to serve its purpose in coaching and mentoring teachers to implement CEFR CBA. The findings of this study have the implication on the program designers and providers to better equip TPD which can address the needs of teachers at the micro level.

This study explored a professional development (PD) program preparing mathematics coordinators to lead effective PD in their schools. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic emerging in the midst of this study, the PD program and school team PD were performed online instead of face-to-face. We explored the PD program and school team PD design before and during COVID-19 period, and the coordinators' expertise-based PD leadership professional identity (LPI). Findings revealed structural stability of the PD program design, and support of coordinators’ LPI. Coordinators enacted a structural transition of effective PD design into the school team PD, demonstrating their LPI in practice.

Professional development (PD) programs are considered as essential for improving the teacher quality and performance in schools. Despite introducing several PD programs, the teachers’ quality in the public schools is a matter of concern for Pakistan. It has become a challenge for policymakers and school leaders to design PD programs which can be effective for all teachers. PD programs in Pakistan normally undertakes a standard approach without considering the strengths and weaknesses of different groups of teachers which may not address the specific needs of these groups. There is a need of structuring PD programs to make these learning opportunities more effective for teachers. Therefore, the current study evaluates the teacher competencies of different groups of teachers in Pakistan’s public schools. For that purpose, the study first identifies three key themes of teacher competencies required in 21st century from extant review of recent literature. Interview guide then is designed based on these key teacher competencies to solicit information from seven principals of public schools. The public schools were selected using the criteria of size of school and principal working experience in that school. Structured interviews been used as a medium for collecting data from the principals. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The deductive content analysis approach was used in analyzing the data. The analytical tool used for the coding of themes was the MAXQDA software. The results highlighted certain differences in teacher competencies varying from gender to age. Female teachers and teachers who are younger in general are found to have more competencies compared to male teachers and senior teachers. The results of this study offer vital information for planning and tailoring TPD programs for teachers. These specially designed learning opportunities can be more effective for the professional development of teachers and can foster teachers’ competence.

Differentiated instruction is a key indicator of effective teaching, but difficult to implement. Thus, educators have called for professional development (PD) programs on the topic. Based on 27 selected studies, this meta-analysis examined the overall effectiveness of PD programs in terms of teacher and student outcomes, and assessed theoretically relevant PD program features as moderators. Our findings indicated that PD programs have a medium effect on teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices. Furthermore, teachers improved more in their differentiation practices if a PD program was provided within a specific subject domain. As PD programs had no significant effect on students’ learning, the relation between teacher development and student learning requires further scrutiny so that students will benefit from their teachers’ learning.

In this study, researchers designed and implemented a 1-year professional development (PD) program that focused on supporting teachers in evaluating and selecting digital learning contents. Participants in this investigation included 109 teachers who consented to the study amongst a total of 171 teachers from five school districts across central Ohio. In addition to their participation in the PD program, they completed surveys, interviews, and self-reflections in this mixed-method study. The results revealed that teachers’ perceived TPACK increased over time throughout the PD program, suggesting that training teachers to evaluate digital contents can be an effective PD model to improve teachers’ capacity in learning technology integration. The PD program was especially effective for teachers with less prior experience in technology integration or related training. Mathematics teachers, in comparison to teachers from other disciplines, began with low TPACK; however, these initial differences gradually diminished over the course of the PD program. In terms of their motivation in digital content evaluation, teachers’ expectancy for success increased significantly while their task values remained medium high. The qualitative analyses provided additional insights and revealed design suggestions for success in future PDs.

PurposeThere has been a significant change in the provision of library services due to the application of technology to every aspect of library services. This has posed a major challenge to library staff as they need to be abreast with current technologies and their application to library services. One means by which a librarian can overcome this challenge is through professional development (PD) programs. The purpose of this paper is to determine PD opportunities in private university libraries in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey of 61 staff and interviews with 20 heads of libraries was conducted to collect data from 25 private universities in Ghana.FindingsThe study revealed that not all library staff in the private universities were allowed to attend PD programs. None of the private universities studied had a policy on PD and only three institutions made budgetary allocation to PD programs. Majority of the private universities did not have in-house PD programs and there were no means of knowledge sharing in most of the libraries studied.Originality/valueIn this paper, the researchers identified the major challenges encountered by library staff in private universities in Ghana and propose that librarians should see PD as a part of their own responsibility while, libraries should have a PD policy and make budgetary allocation toward PD.