Contextual Research-Empirical--Building a Conceptual Model of Learning-Trajectory Based Instruction

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The goal of this study is to develop a conceptual model for Learning-Trajectory Based Instruction (LTBI). LTBI refers to the ways in which teachers use their own knowledge of a learning trajectory to organize their instructional practice and participate in their professional communities. The study explores the concept of LTBI within a specific content domain termed equipartitioning. Within the study the PIs identifies four distinct cases (e.g., sharing a collection, sharing a single whole, sharing multiple wholes with more persons than objects, and more objects than persons) to be studied. The PI determines that "equipartitioning" is a more mathematically satisfactory descriptor for the overall construct, because, unlike breaking, fracturing, and segmenting; equipartitioning pertains to behaviors that create equal-sized groups. The PI builds the work on prior findings on equipartitioning, refines the initial working definition of LTBI, and investigates: (1) the ways teachers' knowledge of equipartitioning learning trajectory (EPLT) develops; (2) the ways teachers use their knowledge of EPLT in instruction; (3) the ways teachers use their knowledge of EPLT for participation in a professional development learning community; and (4) the ways in which teachers' knowledge of EPLT is disseminated in teachers' daily interactions at the school. The study will be implemented in two parts. Part one consists of a design experiment about teacher knowledge development, practice, and participation. Part Two consists of a social network analysis to help determine key connectors that exist in the school network, the extent to which they are effective and how they change over time. The intervention will focus on an extensive professional development (PD) program where K-5 teachers will participate in 16, six-hour days of professional development over a 12-month period. Multiple venues will be used for PD that will impact approximately 100 teachers and 1200 to 1500 students. A design experiment will be used to focus on both the process of learning and the means that are designed to support that learning. The main form of data analysis will be constant comparison methods in search for grounded theory. Additionally, the proposed methods include initial conjectures for each research question to guide the ways in which data is collected and analyzed. Partners in this effort include local schools in Durham, NC. Outcomes include a conceptual model of Learning Trajectory-Based Instruction and insight about how teachers use social networking to improve instructional practices.