Teacher Professional Development for Technology-Enhanced Inquiry to Foster Students' 21st Century Learning

这个探索性设计和开发教学项目的目标是开发和评估一个模块，用于七年级的课堂，促进学生发展21世纪的技能，特别关注学生的科学推理能力的发展。技术强化课程的设计将使学习者参与深入而有意义的调查，以促进学生在学习21世纪技能的同时学习内容。该模块将使用基于探究的学习原则以及通用学习设计原则（UDL）进行设计。该项目背后的动机是，它将直接促进对影响教师向所有学生提供高质量21世纪STEM教育的能力的干预措施的有限研究，特别关注代表性不足的少数民族和残疾学生。课程的教室设置在市区内，其中包括大量少数民族学生和超过20%的有特殊学习障碍的学生。该项目将促进学生对内容知识的深刻理解，同时培养21世纪的技能；因此，更好地为学生进入高中及以后的可持续学习经验做好准备。将进行一项研究，以确定学习模块对课堂实践和学生学习的有效性。涉及多种测量的混合方法设计将提供对教师内容知识、教学实践（包括关注21世纪学习）以及使用TI21框架实施学习活动的保真度的变化的见解。使用科学推理评估和对STEM态度的调查对学生进行前后测试，以及经过验证和广泛使用的概念清单，将提供进一步的措施。作为这个探索性项目的一部分，将进一步测试用于目标人群（包括有特殊学习障碍的学生）的工具的设计和有效性。这将包括通过网络应用程序管理一些评估，以满足这些学生的需求。这些具有嵌入式评估和基于网络的应用程序的学习模块将提供一种创新方法，使21世纪的可转移技能得以开发和衡量。该项目的成果将在整个城市学校系统中传播，因此有能力影响成千上万的其他学生（主要是少数民族和许多残疾人）及其科学、数学和技术教师。项目成果还将为未来科学和/或模块的发展提供信息，以供类似的城市课堂环境使用。

The goal of this Exploratory Design and Development Teaching project is to develop and evaluate a module for use in a 7th grade classroom that promotes student development of 21st Century skills with a particular focus on student development of scientific reasoning. The technology-enhanced curriculum will be designed to engage learners in deep and meaningful investigations to promote student learning of content in parallel with 21st century skills. The module will be designed using principles of inquiry-based learning as well as the principles of universal design for learning (UDL). The motivation behind this project is that it will directly contribute to the limited research on the interventions that impact teachers' capacity to provide high quality 21st century STEM education to all students, with a specific focus on underrepresented minorities and those with disabilities. The classroom setting for which the curriculum will be delivered is within an urban district which includes a large number of minority students and over 20% students with specific learning disabilities. The project will catalyze students' deep understanding of content knowledge while developing 21st century skills in parallel; hence better preparing students for sustainable learning experiences into high school and beyond. A study will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the learning modules on classroom practices as well as student learning. A mixed methods design involving multiple measures will provide insights into changes in teachers' content knowledge, teaching practices that include a focus on 21st century learning, and fidelity of use of the TI21 framework for implementation of the learning activities. Pre- and post-testing of students using a scientific reasoning assessment and surveys on attitudes towards STEM, along with validated and widely used concept inventories, will provide further measures. As part of this exploratory project, the design and validity of instruments for use with the targeted population, which includes students with specific learning disabilities, will be further tested. This will include administering some of the assessments through web-based apps to meet the needs of these students. The learning modules, with embedded assessments and web-based apps, will provide an innovative approach in which transferable 21st century skills can be developed and measured. Outcomes of this project will be disseminated throughout the urban school system and therefore have the ability to impact thousands of other students (mostly minorities and many with disabilities) and their science, math, and technology teachers. Project outcomes will also inform the development of future science and/or modules for use in similar urban classroom settings.