Developing the Pedagogical Skills and Science Expertise of Teachers in Underserved Rural Settings

农村科学教师往往与世隔绝，很少有机会与其他教师进行有意义的合作，而其他教师是专业学习的重要来源。该项目将开发和研究一种通过技术中介课堂学习(TMLS)的农村科学教师专业发展的创新模式。这一方法通过在农村教师中建立以技术为基础的社会支持系统，支持将专业学习转化为课堂实践。该项目将为来自犹他州四个农村地区的高中生物和化学教师举办暑期研讨会，以了解3D科学教学。(3D科学教学融合了科学学科、科学研究实践和跨学科概念的核心思想，帮助学生通过接触真实的科学现象来满足表现预期。)在研讨会上，参与者将与项目团队和来自该州同一地区的同一学科的教师合作，共同设计符合州和国家教育标准的3D科学课程。在讲习班期间建立的关系的基础上，区域教师团队将从事一种新的专业学习形式：以技术为媒介的课程研究。(课堂研究是一种教学探究模式，教师以小协作小组面对面地工作，制定、讲授、观察和改进教学实践。)该项目将为该州四个地区的88名农村科学教师培养科学教学能力，他们每年将接触到约10,000名犹他州农村学生。许多学生是主权国家尤特族、派尤特族、戈舒特族、纳瓦霍族(第内)和肖肖尼族的成员。参与者设计的科学教案将提供给犹他州的所有教师，并通过一个分享同行评议的科学教案的网站与全国观众分享。项目研究和资源将通过在同行评议和从业者期刊上发表的会议报告和出版物进一步传播。该项目将研究TMLS如何在将专业学习转化为实践的过程中支持教师，并调查改变教师的社会支持网络以包括来自其他农村学校的同一科目教师的影响。本项目将采用混合研究方法，研究合作设计活动和TMLS循环对教师改变能力、实践和社会支持系统的影响。能力和实践的变化将通过访谈、课堂教学的视频观察和TMLS会议进行定性检查。将利用社会网络分析来定量分析TMLS对教师社会支持系统的影响，以确定谁是3D科学教学的信息枢纽。这些教师将接受采访，以更好地了解他们的社交互动。利用基于设计的实施研究，该项目将与参与该项目的科学教师领导合作，反复改善专业学习体验。探索研究PREK-12计划(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高Pre-K-12学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验上的证明。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Rural science teachers are often isolated and have few opportunities for meaningful collaboration with fellow teachers, an important source of professional learning. The project will develop and research an innovative model for rural science teacher professional development via technology-mediated lesson study (TMLS). This approach supports translating professional learning into classroom practice by developing a technology-based, social support system among rural teachers. The project will host summer workshops for high school biology and chemistry teachers from four rural Utah regions to learn about 3D science teaching. (3D science teaching incorporates core ideas science disciplines, science research practices, and concepts cutting across disciplines to help students meet performance expectations by engaging with authentic science phenomena.) In the workshops, participants will collaborate with the project team and teachers of the same subject from the same region of the state to co-design 3D science lessons that align with state and national education standards. Building on relationships developed during the workshops, the regional teacher teams will engage in a novel form of professional learning: technology-mediated lesson study. (Lesson study is an instructional inquiry model where teachers work face-to-face in small collaborative groups to craft, deliver, observe, and refine teaching practice.) This project will develop capacity for science teaching for 88 rural science teachers in four regions of the state, who will reach approximately 10,000 rural Utah students each year. Many of the students are members of the sovereign Ute, Paiute, Goshute, Navajo (Diné), and Shoshone Nations. The science lesson plans participants design will be made available to all Utah teachers, and shared with a national audience through a website that shares peer-reviewed science lesson plans. Project research and resources will be further disseminated through conference presentations and publications in peer-reviewed and practitioner journals.The project will research how TMLS supports teachers in the process of translating professional learning into practice and investigate the impact of changing teachers’ social support network to include teachers of the same subject from other rural schools. The project will study the effects of co-design activities and TMLS cycles on teachers’ changing capacity, practice, and social support system using mixed-methods research. Changes in capacity and practice will be examined qualitatively through interviews, video observations of classroom teaching, and TMLS meetings. The effects of TMLS on teachers’ social support system will be analyzed quantitatively using social network analysis to identify individuals who act as information hubs for 3D science teaching. These teachers will be interviewed to better understand their social interactions. Using design-based implementation research, the project will iteratively improve the professional learning experience collaboratively with the science teacher leaders who participate in the project. The Discovery Research preK-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 the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification 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.