Collaborative Research: Examining Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Behaviors and Learning with an Online Professional Development Platform

小学数学教师对专业学习机会的需求日益增长。在线资源可以提供必要的支持，特别是对于资源匮乏学校的教师来说，这些学校的专业发展资金往往有限。在线专业学习还允许教师按照自己的节奏工作并寻找他们认为最有用的资源。在这个项目中，研究人员将探索小学教师在包括视频、讨论和其他数学教学资源的平台上参与在线学习的不同方式。由于知道教师可能会根据自己的兴趣和可用时间不同程度地使用该平台，因此该研究将调查不同的参与情况如何影响教师的学习。这项全国性的研究还将研究如何在平台内设计不同类型的学习体验。鉴于目前对在线资源的依赖，了解教师在自我指导和自定进度的学习时如何看待他们所学的内容至关重要。该项目将利用小学教师的大型虚拟学习社区来调查不同的参与情况如何影响教师的专业学习。首先，该项目将确定教师在与在线异步专业学习网站互动时如何理解自己的学习。这项全国性的研究将建立以不同方式参与该网站的教师的档案。有些教师可能正在寻找即将到来的课程的特定信息，而其他教师可能会出于自己的好奇心而浏览。 该项目的早期阶段将使用网络分析、数学焦虑测量、调查和访谈来建立档案并了解教师如何看待他们的学习。其次，该项目将使用实验设计来测试通过数据挖掘、教师调查和访谈确定的感知学习策略是否会影响教师行为，这些行为已被确定为与积极的教学和学生学习成果相关。最后阶段将增加对教师学习的评估，以测试基于早期阶段分析的干预措施设计。该项目得到 NSF 的 EDU 核心研究 (ECR) 计划和发现研究 preK-12 计划的支持。 ECR 项目强调基础 STEM 教育研究，产生该领域的基础知识。投资针对重要、广泛和持久的关键领域：STEM 学习和 STEM 学习环境、扩大 STEM 参与以及 STEM 劳动力发展。 Discovery Research preK-12 计划 (DRK-12) 旨在通过创新资源、模型和工具的研究和开发，显着增强 preK-12 学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 的学习和教学。 DRK-12 计划中的项目建立在 STEM 教育基础研究以及先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议项目提供理论和实证依据。 该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Elementary mathematics teachers have a growing need for professional learning opportunities. Online resources can provide essential support, especially for teachers from low-resourced schools, in which there is often limited funding for professional development. Online professional learning also allows teachers to work at their own pace and seek out the resources they find most useful. In this project, the investigators will explore different ways that elementary school teachers participate in online learning in a platform that includes videos, discussions, and other resources for mathematics teaching. Knowing that teachers may use the platform to different degrees depending on their interest and time available, the study will investigate how different profiles of participation influence teachers' learning. The nation-wide study will also examine how to design different types of learning experiences within the platform. Given the current reliance on online resources, it is crucial to know how teachers perceive what they learn when their learning is self-directed and self-paced.The project will use a large-scale virtual learning community for elementary teachers to investigate how different participation profiles influence teachers' professional learning. First, the project will identify how teachers understand their own learning when interacting with an online, asynchronous, professional-learning website. The nationwide study will develop profiles of teachers who engage with the site in different ways. Some teachers may be seeking specific information for an upcoming lesson and others may be browsing for their own curiosity. Early phases of the project will use web analytics, measures of math anxiety, surveys, and interviews to develop profiles and understand how teachers perceive their learning. Second, using an experimental design, the project will test whether the perceived learning strategies identified by data mining, teacher surveys, and interviews affect teacher behaviors, which have been identified as being related to positive teaching and student-learning outcomes. The final phase will add assessments of teacher learning to test the design of interventions grounded in the analysis from the early phases.This project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program and the Discovery Research preK-12 Program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. 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.