Building professional capital in elementary science teaching through a district-wide networked improvement community model

通过全区网络改进社区模型在基础科学教学中建立专业资本

• 批准号: 1907471
• 负责人: Jessica Thompson
• 金额: $ 299.92万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-07-01 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1907471&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Building; professional; capital; elementary; science

This project will focus on a networked improvement community (NIC) model of professional learning that shifts K-5 science instruction from traditional approaches to a three-dimensional design as outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards. The need to make this shift stems from the school district's decision to address inequities in science as some schools offer minimal to no science instruction during the elementary years. The NIC model will draw on expertise from school personnel and university partners to ensure that students will have access to and benefit from authentic model-based inquiry daily in the early grades. This model embraces the challenges of scale and sustainability by targeting the design and substance of professional learning and its organization within the district, balancing integration with existing system infrastructure, and shifting the system based on theory-driven practices. To prepare teachers for this major change, professional development will shift from: (1) training on the use of kit-based curricular materials to professional learning grounded in NGSS-inspired sets of practices and tools; (2) working as individual practitioners to teaching as collaborative investigations; (3) using centralized efforts to distributed knowledge-building and leadership; (4) learning science as decontextualized facts to deep engagement with real-world phenomena; and (5) teaching lessons as prescribed by curriculum to a focus on responsive teaching and building on students' funds of knowledge. The NIC model will provide a pathway for integrating and implementing these shifts via a multilevel, knowledge-building, problem-solving system. This system will go beyond a single focus on improving students' understanding of science content to incorporating teaching practices that advances knowledge about student's written and spoken scientific language and use of explanations and arguments. Through the NIC model all K-5 elementary students in the district will benefit from a rigorous and equitable approach to science learning. This project will feature a multi-level model involving university educators and researchers and school district practitioners in an effort to co-defined problems of practice valuable to both parties. A mixed methods research design will examine how the NIC model develops professional capital through changes in implementation over multiple iterations. These changes will be captured through short and long-term instruments. Regarding the shorter term, practical measures sensitive to change and directly tied to small manageable, short-term goals will provide quick responses to everyday real-time questions. These measures will help assess specific improvement goals using language relevant and meaningful to researchers and practitioners. For longer term goals, in-depth case studies, interviews, observations, pre-posttests, surveys, and questionnaires will collect data on several variables critical to documenting improvements at the teacher and student levels. Both sets of data will generate knowledge about ambitious and equitable science teaching practices with a focus on students' cultural and linguistic resources and experiences. Through such pathways, knowledge will be generated on teachers' and students' growth as active builders and collaborators in the development of improved learning and experiences. The outcomes will identify critical facets that support advances and sustainability that illuminate variations within the district to better understand what works, for whom, and under what conditions. the research findings will also be used to inform decision making about teaching science at the elementary grades and to further refine equity-based practices, resources, and tools for building on students' funds of knowledge vital to supporting, sustaining, and scaling educational outcomes for all students in the district and beyond. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in this program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justifications for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目将侧重于专业学习的网络改进社区（NIC）模型，将K-5科学教学从传统方法转变为下一代科学标准中概述的三维设计。做出这一转变的必要性源于学区决定解决科学方面的不平等问题，因为一些学校在小学阶段提供最少甚至没有科学教学。NIC模型将借鉴学校工作人员和大学合作伙伴的专业知识，以确保学生在低年级每天都能获得并受益于真实的基于模型的调查。该模式通过针对区内专业学习及其组织的设计和实质内容，平衡与现有系统基础设施的整合，并根据理论驱动的实践改变系统，来迎接规模和可持续性的挑战。为了使教师做好准备迎接这一重大变革，教师的专业发展将从：（1）培训如何使用基于工具包的课程材料转向基于NGSS启发的实践和工具集的专业学习;（2）作为个人实践者工作，以合作调查的方式进行教学;（3）使用集中的努力，以分散的知识建设和领导能力;（4）将科学作为脱离背景的事实来学习，以深入参与现实世界的现象;以及（5）根据课程规定教授课程，以注重反应式教学和建立学生的知识基础。NIC模式将通过一个多层次的知识建设和解决问题的系统，为整合和实施这些转变提供一条途径。这一系统将超越单一的重点，提高学生对科学内容的理解，纳入教学实践，提高学生的书面和口头科学语言的知识，并使用解释和论点。通过NIC模式，该地区所有K-5小学生将受益于严格和公平的科学学习方法。该项目将采用一种多层次模式，涉及大学教育工作者和研究人员以及学区从业人员，以共同界定对双方都有价值的实践问题。一个混合方法的研究设计将研究如何NIC模型开发专业资本，通过在多个迭代的实施变化。这些变化将通过短期和长期工具加以记录。就短期而言，对变化敏感并与可管理的短期小目标直接挂钩的实际措施将对日常实时问题作出快速反应。这些措施将有助于使用对研究人员和从业人员相关和有意义的语言评估具体的改进目标。对于长期目标，深入的案例研究，访谈，观察，前后测试，调查和问卷将收集几个变量的数据，这些变量对记录教师和学生层面的改进至关重要。这两组数据将产生关于雄心勃勃和公平的科学教学实践的知识，重点是学生的文化和语言资源和经验。通过这些途径，将产生关于教师和学生成长的知识，使他们成为积极的建设者和合作者，发展更好的学习和经验。这些成果将确定支持进步和可持续性的关键方面，这些方面将阐明地区内的变化，以更好地了解什么是有效的，对谁有效，以及在什么条件下有效。研究结果还将用于为小学年级科学教学的决策提供信息，并进一步完善基于公平的实践、资源和工具，以利用学生的知识基金，这对于支持、维持和扩大教育成果至关重要学区及其他地区的所有学生。探索研究K-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具，显着提高学前班学生和教师的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。该项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究以及为拟议项目提供理论和经验依据的先前研究和开发工作的基础上。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。