Virginia Mathematics Teacher Fall 2016

Technology-Enhanced Inquiry of Light and Optics Concepts: Teachers’ Professional Development Jennifer Maeng, Richard A. Lindgren, Jesse T Senechal

Abstract

PD Model

The Developing Science Teachers’ Understanding of Light and Optics Professional Development (PD) provided an integrated approach to teaching science through inquiry and educational technology for upper elementary, middle, and high school teachers with the goal of increasing their content and pedagogical knowledge for teaching physical science. Below, we describe the PD model employed as well as teacher and student outcomes. Results indicated teacher’s understandings of light and optics content and their pedagogical knowledge for teaching through inquiry and technology improved following participation in the PD. These results have implications for the implementation of PD that supports middle and high school teachers’ understanding of light and optics content. Products of the PD include teacher-generated lesson plans. The Developing Science Teachers’ Understanding of Light and Optics Professional Development (PD) provided an integrated approach to teaching science through inquiry and educational technology. This MSP project, led by Dr. Richard Lindgren, was a collaboration between the University of Virginia (UVa), Jefferson National Laboratory (JLab), the Virginia School University Partnership, Albemarle County Public Schools, Charlottesville City Schools, Newport News City Schools, and Hampton City Schools. Goals of the project were to (1) support upper elementary, middle, and high school teachers’ content knowledge and conceptual modeling instructional skills to effectively teach science content outlined in Virginia’s Science SOLs and (2) to support teachers in integrating technology-enhanced inquiry to improve student achievement in science. To accomplish these goals, the program held two summer institutes, one at UVa and one at JLab, during the summer of 2014. The summer institute focused on increasing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge for teaching science through technology-enhanced inquiry and light and optics content knowledge. Introduction

Previous research has identified five components of PD likely to influence teacher quality and student achievement (e.g. Loucks- Horsley et al., 2010). These components include (1) immersing teachers in inquiry, questioning, and experimentation to model inquiry teaching, (2) engaging teachers in concrete teaching tasks based on their experiences with students, and (3) focusing on subject-matter knowledge and deepening teachers' content knowledge. Further, effective PD should be (4) intensive, long term, and coherent and (5) be grounded in a common set of PD standards in order to show teachers how to connect their work to specific learning standards for student performance (Loucks-Horsley et al., 2010). These components informed the Developing Science Teachers’ Understanding of Light and Optics PD. POE Inquiry Model. Inquiry can be defined simply as “Students answering a research question through the analysis of data” (Bell, Smetana, & Binns, 2005). Several models of inquiry instruction exist. This PD taught light and optics content through a predict-observe-explain (POE) inquiry model (Haysom & Bowen, 2010). The POE model involves eliciting student ideas, discussing student predictions, students making observations and explaining their observations, and the teacher supporting students’ explanations with the scientific explanation. Technology-enhanced inquiry. Research indicates integrating computer-based models into inquiry instruction promotes students’ conceptual understanding of scientific phenomena (NRC, 2011). The role of computer simulations is not to replace inquiry investigations but to provide students with supplemental contact with the variables tested in a real experiment or to visualize the process that occurs at sub-atomic scale (Luft, Gess-Newsome, & Bell, 2008). Research also indicates that computer simulations are useful for simulating labs that are impractical, expensive, or too dangerous to conduct in a school-based setting, contribute to conceptual change, and provide tools

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 43, no. 1

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