Professional Learning Experiences Research Articles

A Curriculum-Based Approach to Learning Trajectories in Middle School Algebra

Our aim is to contribute to the body of research on learning trajectories (LTs) in mathematics by making visible a process for articulating a hypothetical learning trajectory implicit in a widely adopted, reform-based, middle-grades mathematics curriculum. In doing so, we highlight considerations, decisions, and challenges we faced as part of this work. By describing our LT articulation process, our aim is to highlight ways in which curriculum-specific LTs can be articulated to serve as a more proximal and instrumental tool for teachers’ instructional practice. Furthermore, to illustrate we describe how the products of the work were used in practice-based professional learning experiences with middle-grades mathematics teachers.

Sharing Experiences in Designing Professional Learning to Support Hydrology and Water Resources Instructors to Create High-Quality Curricular Materials

The creation of high-quality curricular materials requires knowledge of curriculum design and a considerable time commitment. Instructors often have limited time to dedicate to the creation of curricular materials. Additionally, the knowledge and skills needed to develop high-quality materials are often not taught to instructors. Furthermore, similar learning material is often prepared by multiple instructors working at separate institutions, leading to unnecessary duplication of effort and inefficiency that can impact quality. To address these problems, we established the HydroLearn platform and associated professional learning experiences for hydrology and water resources instructors. HydroLearn is an online platform for developing and sharing high-quality curricular materials, or learning modules, focused on hydrology and water resources. The HydroLearn team has worked with three cohorts of instructors from around the world who were dedicated to creating high-quality curricular materials to support both their students and the broader community. In order to overcome some of the aforementioned barriers, we tested and revised several different models of professional learning with these cohorts. These models ranged from (a) instructors working individually with periodic guidance from the HydroLearn team, to (b) small groups of instructors collaborating on topics of shared interests guided through an intensive HydroLearn training workshop. We found the following factors to contribute to the success of instructors in creating modules: (1) instructor pairs co-creating modules enhanced the usability and transferability of modules between universities and courses, (2) dedicating an intensive block of time (∼63 h over 9 days) to both learning about and implementing curriculum design principles, (3) implementing structures for continuous feedback throughout that time, (4) designing modules for use in one’s own course, and (5) instituting a peer-review process to refine modules. A comprehensive set of learning modules were produced covering a wide range of topics that target undergraduate and early graduate students, such as: floodplain analysis, hydrologic droughts, remote sensing applications in hydrology, urbanization and stormwater runoff, evapotranspiration, snow and climate, groundwater flow, saltwater intrusion in coastal regions, and stream solute tracers. We share specifics regarding how we structured the professional learning models, as well as lessons learned and challenges faced.

Intern-Connect – A simple and minimalistic portal for applying and posting internships

Abstract: An internship is a professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work related to a student’s field of study or career interest. An internship gives a student the opportunity for career exploration and development, and to learn new skills. It offers the employer the opportunity to bring new ideas and energy into the workplace, develop talent and potentially build a pipeline for future full-time employees. Internships not only provide first-hand exposure to working in the real world but also allow students to harness the skill, knowledge, and theoretical practice they learnt in university. One can acquire endless amounts of education in your life; however, that knowledge doesn't always translate to working life. The great thing about internships is that it teaches young professionals about the specific industries and companies they are interested in. For engineering students, an internship is all the more important as the expectations or skill sets needed for securing a job in the industry does not match the curriculum

Digital Literacy Skills Instruction and Increased Skills Proficiency

Though today’s students are considered digital natives, they lack the digital literacy skills needed to be competent and productive members of a digital society. Students may have experience with using technology, but they need to develop specific skills that align with consuming and producing with technology. While there may be agreement that students need digital literacy skills and established state, national and international standards to be met, there are a variety of concepts that are considered part of digital literacy and there is a lack of equitable instruction and expectations for ensuring students have these necessary skills. There is a problem in PK-12th grade education that includes a lack of evidence about the effectiveness of using content knowledge instruction, practice, and application experiences to develop students’ digital literacy skills. However, by creating a path for enduring understandings for students and providing professional learning experiences for teachers, the effectiveness of student digital literacy skills can create positive social change as students would be better prepared to safely and efficiently live and interact in a digitally based society.

A Qualitative Study of Kindergarten Teachers’ Perceptions About the Influences of Professional Learning on Their Implementation of Guided Play

ABSTRACT Despite numerous research findings that support play’s positive impact on children’s learning, pressure to pass high-stakes tests later in the elementary years has prompted a decrease in the amount of time for kindergarten play. While play proponents work to prioritize play in kindergarten, there is a dilemma. How can educators respond to the academic demands placed on today’s kindergartners without compromising essential play practices? There is limited research on how to build kindergarten teachers’ capacity to organize and facilitate play in ways that are both developmentally appropriate and effective at accelerating academic outcomes. This investigation reports findings from interviews with seven kindergarten teachers recommended for a play leadership cohort by administrators because of their instructional and leadership skills. Participants engaged in a two-year series of connected professional learning experiences influencing them to expand time and enhance quality of play in their classrooms. Findings from this study extend existing knowledge outlining four dimensions of effective professional learning: cognitive engagement, emotional engagement, social engagement with students, and social engagement with colleagues. This study sheds light on how these dimensions of professional learning are effective in developing kindergarten teachers’ capacity for implementing guided play practices. Implications and recommendations for future research are included.

Unheard Voices: Transformative Workplace Learning and Support Experiences of Racialized Migrant Women English Instructors in Ontario Higher Education in Canada

Racialized migrant women English instructors in higher education have been an underrepresented minority group of teaching professionals in Ontario, Canada. This study investigates highly experienced racialized migrant instructors’ workplace learning and support experiences. It aims to reveal how transformative their professional learning experiences are and how transformative their workplaces are in including them as newcomer community members. This article provides the literature review to demonstrate why this study was necessary and preliminary findings answering two research questions to display how equitable and inclusive Ontario higher education workplaces are to these understudied teaching professionals in Ontario. The study findings suggest that online professional communities can create a learning and development space for them by serving their unfulfilled needs in the workplace.

Graduate Studies Schooling during COVID-19 Pandemic: Doctorate and Master’s Students Experience in a Private Higher Education Institution in the Philippines

This study determined the graduate schooling experiences of the 347 Graduate Students of the University of Northeastern Philippines, Iriga City, Philippines, during the Second Semester of the Academic Year 2020-2021, wherein online learning modality instead of traditional face-to-face classes was implemented. Using a survey questionnaire distributed through Google form, it sought answers to the learning experiences of the Graduate Students with regards to their graduate schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic and their challenges met achieving quality graduate programs during the New Normal School Year. Descriptive survey research was used. All respondents strongly agreed that a sudden transition to a different modality in Graduate School teaching affects the quality of professional learning experiences, and they faced challenges that affect their graduate learning experiences

‘Regard me’: a case study of learner engagement and the satisfaction of basic needs in continuing professional development

ABSTRACT Learner engagement is essential for deep and sustained learning, yet it is seldom included in empirical frameworks for effective continuing professional development (CPD), which tend to privilege broad design features over learner-centred strategies. In this critical case study, I consider this gap by applying the lens of self-determination theory (SDT) to analyse in depth what one U.S.-based teacher described as a transformational professional learning experience. Observing the ways in which learner engagement and facilitators’ pedagogical practices combine to satisfy SDT’s basic needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness and to shape this teacher’s practice, I suggest that relational responsiveness – what the focus teacher in this study calls ‘regard’ – is an important and under-theorised quality in powerful professional learning. I conclude with theoretical and practical implications for the design and study of continuing professional development.

Typology of teachers’ stages of concern for STEM education

ABSTRACT Background Despite the focus of many global education systems on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, research on teachers’ concerns about this relatively new educational phenomenon remains scarce. Purpose This study used the concerns-based adoption model as the theoretical framework to examine the primary concerns expressed by teachers about STEM education and identified a typology of teachers based on the response patterns of their concerns. Sample A regionally representative sample of 331 primary and secondary school teachers of STEM-related subjects in Hong Kong participated in this study. Design and methods Data were collected from the teachers through an online, self-reported survey. Latent class analysis was used to profile teachers’ concerns about STEM education in this study, and multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to regress the latent class outcome variable on the covariates. Results The majority of the teachers reported high levels of concern at all five stages of STEM education implementation, namely evaluation, information, management, consequence, and refocusing. Latent class analysis revealed three classes of teachers who were extremely concerned (49.1%), considerably concerned (43.5%), or moderately concerned (7.4%) about STEM education. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that the teaching sector (primary or secondary) and participation in STEM education training significantly contributed to the prediction of the latent class outcome variable. Conclusion Given that 96% of the teachers in this study were trained in STEM education through workshops, seminars, courses, and trips, these findings highlight the necessity of designing personalized professional learning experiences for teachers and provide empirically supported evidence to indicate teachers’ preparedness and readiness to adopt STEM education as an educational innovation and directions for future research in related areas. This study also informs evidence-based policy making regarding STEM teacher education.

Online and Underground: Reconceptualizing a Professional Learning Experience in Times of Change

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\u201cNot yet a doctor\u201d: medical student learning experiences and development of professional identity

BackgroundTo become a good doctor, developing a professional identity is as important as having the right knowledge and skills. Great attention has been given to professional identity in medical school because it plays an important role in the transition from student to doctor. Nonetheless, the necessity of acquiring a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill during medical school training does not create sufficient opportunities for students to develop their professional identities. Thus, this paper pays careful attention to how students’ learning experiences in medical school affect this development. The research questions are as follows. 1) How do medical students’ perceptions of doctors change or strengthen after entering medical school in the process of professional identity development? 2) What kinds of knowledge have medical students accumulated while attending medical school? How do their learning experiences affect professional identity development? 3) What is a doctor’s role and the career’s meaning to medical students, and what understanding does this awareness bring to their learning experiences and lives as future doctors?MethodsIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Korean students in their fourth year of medical school; all had more than one year of experience in clinical settings. The students’ learning experiences and professional identity development were used to analyze the data using inductive thematic analysis.ResultsWhen students first entered medical school, they perceived their identities as “given to” them by society. However, various learning experiences during the medical school years affected them, causing them to think about becoming a doctor according to their own perceptions and the meaning of becoming a doctor in the profession. Although an isolated medical community and a competitive student culture hindered them from searching for their professional identities, informal learning experiences, including active interaction with patients, senior doctors, and others outside the medical community, enabled them to develop their professional identities. The medical students experienced a conflict between individual and professional values as they considered what kind of doctor they would be in the future.ConclusionsThe findings noted in this study extend the understanding of professional identity and informal learning experiences in medical school.

Internship Experience: A Transition from Academic World to Health Care Workplace

internship; medical student; work.

Professional kinship using social media tools: Bridging and bonding to develop teacher expertise

The purpose of this collective case study research was to discover the impact school culture, internal factors, and the state of flow have upon motivating a teacher to develop teaching expertise. This research was designed to determine why and how individual teachers can nurture their existing internal factors to increase their motivation to seek expertise development and to explore how school culture, internal factors, and state of flow may encourage or limit the development of expertise. One major finding of this study concerned how experts choose their professional learning experiences and build professional learning networks based on their perceived weaknesses in content, pedagogy, or social-emotional attributes. They seek to improve their weaknesses to improve student learning through the key motivating factor of Teacher-Student Kinship representing an almost family-like relationship. Expert teachers bond with peers within their school, but also bridge with peers outside of their school. This bonding and bridging have become more accessible with the use of various social media technological tools from YouTube to professional learning networks on Twitter. The use of social media and other technology tools has allowed experts to develop Professional Kinship and enhance their practice regardless of location and proximity with peers within their professional learning community. These major findings hold implications for theory, practice, and future research particularly in the realm of teacher quality and the change of mindset towards the profession and the standards of education.

Literacy of Environmental Education Assessment Framework (LEEAF)

The Literacy of Environmental Education Assessment Framework (LEEAF) is a pre and post-assessment survey to evaluate the current Environmental Education (EE) curriculum and learn how it supports the Science / Environmental Education Curricular Standards (Connell, 2019). LEEAF provides a systematic approach to aligning the existing and self-adopted EE science standards based on NAAEE (2010), GCDEE (1980), and Tbilisi (1978). The three categories: Fully Aligned - EE curricula and science professional development questions (100% - 70%); Partially Aligned - science curricula and professional development questions that also discuss the possible implementation of the EE curriculum (69% - 30%); Not Aligned - questions, discussing the current science curricula and which areas are successful and the other regions in which improvement requires an implementation of an EE curriculum (29% - 0%). LEEAF is a two-year assessment comprising four assessments submitted to school educators, administrators, students, and community stakeholders to determine EE alignment. LEEAF works per Tscion Research Environmental Education, Enrichment &amp; Stewardship (TREEES). TREEES is an environmental education framework that provides activities that improve EE literacy for students, teachers, and community efforts. The LEEAF assessment allows TREEES to determine EE alignment and apply the appropriate percentage of activities based on science curricular deficiencies and strengths. During the evaluation, public and private school data are analyzed through qualitative and content analysis to assess the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK, Schulman, 1987) of the school or institution, to check for curricular’ understanding or misunderstandings, and teachers’ reflection on their teaching( Tan, Yap &amp; Wan, 2002). Introduction The Literacy of Environmental Education Assessment Framework (LEEAF) is a pre-assessment portion of a two-part survey administered to the X school district. This survey aims to evaluate the current culture and climate of the X school district and how it supports the Science / Environmental Education Curricular Standards. This survey would be administered districtwide to a total of X schools. Participants of this survey would include X Teachers, grade levels: K-12, and School &amp; District Administrators. This data of X schools would be assessed to determine the proper alignment category and development of the LEEAF Post-Assessment surveys. The three categories are: Fully Aligned, direct Environmental Education curricula and science professional development questions Partially Aligned, direct science curricula and professional development questions that also discuss the possible implementation of the Environmental Education curriculum. Not Aligned, direct questions discuss the current science curricula, which areas are successful, and other areas where improvement is needed to implement an Environmental Education curriculum. The first initial stages of assessment would require evaluating the overall data of the X and X. This data would be evaluated through the adapted National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys to determine the general relevancy of the X and the NAAEE Guidelines Coding System. All data would be analyzed using the Qualtrics Data Analysis Software (QDA). Method The methodology of this proposal refers to the dissertation, A Systematic Approach to Understanding Alignment Between The Existing And Self-Adopted Environmental Education Standards: United States Sixth to Twelfth Grade Environmental Science Standards (Connell, 2019), Excellence in Environmental Education: Guidelines for Learning (NAAEE Guidelines) (Simmons/NAAEE, 2010a), the Tbilisi Declaration Objectives (UNESCO, 1978), and the Goals for Curriculum Development in Environmental Education (GCDEE) (Hungerford, Peyton &amp; Wilke, 1980). Results Connell, 2019 conducted a systematic approach to determine the alignment between the existing and self-adopted science 6th-12th grade EE science standards. Based on NAAEE (2010), GCDEE (1980), and Tbilisi (1978), Connell, 2019 determined how ten randomly selected States within U.S. EPA Regions aligned with Existing Environmental Education Standards (EEES). This research addressed if each State’s alignment was implicit or explicit with environmental education standards. The Connell 2019 research design was conducted by means of deductive content analysis (DCA) (Mayring, 2002) and coding procedures based on the theoretical formulation of Krippendorff (2004). Therefore, measures were put in place by Goals of Curriculum Development of Environmental Education (GCDEE/ Hungerford et al., 1980) to create specific goals and objectives appropriate for curricular and instructional implementation as follows: Level I: Ecological Foundation Level Level II: Conceptual Awareness Level – Issues and Values Level III: Investigation and Evaluation Level Level IV: Action Skills Level – Training and Application Discussion Data analysis would be conducted through quantitative and qualitative deductive content analysis (Mayring, 2000; Connell, 2019). Connell notes that deductive content analysis examines textual documents with established themes for coding and evaluation purposes. Quantitative Methods for the TREEES’ LEEAF Pre-Assessment Survey would be analyzed with Qualtrics Data Analysis System based on a Coding System developed by Connell, 2019. Results from the Post Assessment Survey determine the level of support and types of for Culturally Relevant Professional Learning Experiences to determine how Sci./Soc. Studies Curricular Standards align with the NAAEE Guidelines (Simmons, 2010).

Designing Online Professional Learning to Support Educators to Teach for Equity During COVID and Black Lives Matter

The massive racial inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide protests in response to the killings of unarmed Black people forced a reckoning among many educators about racial injustice in the educational system. In March 2020, we launched a massive open online course designed to support teachers in adopting antiracist equity mind-sets and practices. We used a mixed-methods approach to describe how the participants experienced the online course between March and July 2020. Participants in immediate post- and follow-up surveys reported statistically significant shifts in their mind-sets and practices toward equitable teaching practices (effect size = 0.18–58 SD). In interviews, participants described how the course helped them change their practice through acquiring new language, reflecting collaboratively on practice, and engaging in calls to action. The findings provide insight to designers of online professional learning experiences focused on equity and open up new research areas on online professional learning for equity teaching mind-sets and practices.

Rural Teachers’ Cultural and Epistemic Shifts in STEM Teaching and Learning

This article focuses on the ways in which integrated curriculum can improve STEM teaching and learning within rural spaces. Using a design-based research approach, this study focuses on rural teachers' experiences of professional learning and development training as they learn to engage computing and maker technologies in their elementary classrooms as tools for teaching students about difficult histories of immigration, migration, and forced relocation across the United States.

Science Teacher Noticing via Video Annotation: Links between Complexity and Knowledge-Based Reasoning

ABSTRACT This study adds to the construct of science teacher noticing through an analysis that integrates concepts from pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) frameworks. It examines 929 instances of science teacher noticing made via video annotation tools (VATs) over the course of 38 early-career, secondary science teachers’ participation in a two-year professional learning experience. This study asked specifically about: 1) interacting elements of a classroom (students, practice, content) teachers noticed in videos of their own practice, 2) patterns in knowledge-based reasoning evidenced in noticing, and 3) the role of content knowledge in such knowledge-based reasoning. Using mixed methods analysis, we found that the majority of annotations exhibited a singular focus (i.e. students, teacher practice, or content) and tended to focus on students and/or practice, with less attention to content. However, we also identified a statistically significant relationship between complexity of noticing (i.e. attention to multiple foci) and the presence of knowledge-based reasoning. Further qualitative analysis of the subset of annotations that attended to content suggested that such attention to content could be an important link within teacher noticing to connect practice to student thinking. This study highlights the value of scaffolding attention to content and to multiple foci within science teacher noticing. It also demonstrates the potential for VATs to facilitate noticing.

AMPLIFY: Professional Learning Experiences for World Language Educators

AMPLIFY: Professional Learning Experiences for World Language Educators

Using epistemic instructional activities to support secondary science teachers’ social construction of knowledge of anthropogenic climate change during a professional learning experience

This article describes an innovative intervention used within a professional learning experience (PLE) for early-career high school science teachers. The intervention aimed to develop participants’ conceptual understanding of climate change while supporting engagement in learning via scientific practices through use of epistemic instructional activities. Participants were 18 teachers from 16 different public schools across the US, all serving historically underserved student populations. The intervention consisted of a sequence of three learning experiences, each of which engaged participants in learning through a unique epistemic tool or activity. We describe each activity and offer examples of our developed materials. Additionally, we use qualitative coding to analyze teacher-produced artifacts to evaluate the intervention. Results show: 1) a data analysis epistemic activity supported learner attention to variation in climate data; 2) an explanation-focused epistemic activity supported integration of several concepts within social constructions of mechanistic explanations; and 3) a claims evaluation epistemic activity supported participants’ linking of concepts about variation to mechanistic explanations of climate change, as well as their understanding of argumentation in general. We suggest that other educators could benefit from adapting our intervention to meet the needs of their contexts. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2021.1986785 .

Educational Change in Saudi Arabia: Insights from One USA/KSA Teacher Professional Development Collaborative

Teacher professional development (PD) programs ideally evaluate how professional learning experiences empower teachers to be effective change agents in their disciplines and communities. The Khbrat [&amp;ldquo;experiences&amp;rdquo; in Arabic] program is a year-long, global teacher PD initiative launched by the Saudi Ministry of Education. The goal is to change the mindset of Saudi teachers through immersive experiences in the U.S. K-12 schools and university academic culture so that they can participate as effective &amp;ldquo;change agents&amp;rdquo; in the transformation of Saudi schools. Our mixed-methods study examined the impact of the Khbrat program on Saudi teachers&amp;rsquo; leadership, classroom experiences, and sociocultural levels; the findings inspire new directions for program design with key insights into teacher PD program evaluation.