Virginia Mathematics Teacher Fall 2016

teachers collaborating on lesson development and implementation (Lieberman, 2011) and formal mentoring of the PLCs by an experienced inquiry teacher (Counsell, 2011). These additional strategies were incorporated into the established professional development program to provide additional support to teachers as they progress through the project. In 2014 and 2015, middle school science and math teachers from the Central Virginia counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Nelson, and Prince Edward and from Lynchburg city participated in the INoVATR professional development project. Teacher- participants were grouped into PLCs of 2-4 teachers based upon location and content areas. Three additional teachers with previous experience in inquiry teaching and assessment were identified as project Coaches to work as formal mentors with the PLCs to support implementation and dissemination of best practices locally and regionally. The goals of the project were to increase teachers’ understanding and practice of inquiry approaches to teaching science and math content. Thirteen (13) teachers completed the full year-long project and evaluations reported here. Inquiry approaches to teaching math and science begin with a testable question followed by an investigation to generate data that students then analyze to answer the question. The level of inquiry depends upon who provides the question and investigation procedures. In a structured inquiry, students are provided with the question and the procedures as described in the lesson Volume and Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms . Only the question for investigation is provided in a guided inquiry with students designing the procedures and analyzing data to answer the question. An example is Linear Functions where students investigate the question “What is the relationship between a rope’s length and the

number of knots in the rope?” In an open inquiry lesson, students articulate the question for investigation, design the procedures, and analyze data to answer the question. An example is Transformations . For a more comprehensive description of inquiry-based instruction, see the article by Bell, Smetana, and Binns, 2005. The teacher-participants engaged in a summer course focused on teaching science and math through an inquiry strategy with activities across all levels of inquiry (Bell, 2005) and targeted discussions on questioning and assessment strategies. During this initial course, teachers wrote a structured inquiry lesson plan to be implemented during the first weeks of school. Four subsequent course meetings followed by lesson planning, implementation, and reflection, were spaced throughout the academic year (Table 1). Implemented lesson plans progressed from structured to guided to open inquiry with the fourth and final inquiry being at a level of the teachers’ choice based upon lesson goals and objectives. Other professional development activities included readings and discussions from course texts (Carlson, 2003; Llewellyn, 2007) and attendance at the Virginia Association of Science Teachers Professional Development Institute (VAST-PDI). In collaboration with the STEM faculty members, project coaches worked with the PLCs at each stage, troubleshooting lesson challenges and providing workshops for teachers in response to common challenges. For example, coaches presented a workshop on helping students to write testable questions in response to teachers’ apprehensions in engaging with open inquiry. The INoVATR model of professional development has been demonstrated to be successful by multiple project measures. Results of two of the measures from this project are highlighted here.

Table 1. The INoVATR Lesson Study Schedule

Inquiry Lesson 1 Structured Inquiry before and during summer course. at the end of the summer course. during the 1 st nine weeks of school. follows soon after implementation. at the end of the 1 st quarter of school.

Inquiry Lesson 2 Guided Inquiry following previous inquiry. after the lesson 1 class meeting. during the 2 nd nine weeks of school. follows soon after implementation. at the end of the 2 nd quarter of school.

Inquiry Lesson 3 Open Inquiry following previous inquiry. after the lesson 2 class meeting. during the 3 rd nine weeks of school. follows soon after implementation. at the end of the 3 rd quarter of school.

Inquiry Lesson 4 Teacher’s-Choice following previous inquiry. after the lesson 3 class meeting. during the 4 th nine weeks of school. follows soon after implementation. prior to the project dissemination con­ ference.

Study curriculum and formulate goals …

Plan the lesson …

Implement the les­ son … Analyze and reflect … Class meeting is held …

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 43, no. 1

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