Virginia Mathematics Teacher Fall 2016

Evaluation of Lesson Study Based Teacher Professional Development Model for Inquiry Teaching in STEM Jill Granger, Arlene Vinion Dubiel, Hank Yochum, James Alouf, Tim Loboschefski Abstract Middle school science and math teachers

similar professional development projects funded by both Math Science Partnership grants and grants from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Science by Inquiry (SxI) at Sweet Briar College project team sought to improve and identify the critical programmatic components that lead to success within a professional development project. The acronym INoVATR (“Innovator”) is a tag line that brings attention to the model’s emphasis on inquiry, vision, assessment, teaching, and reflection; and to identify our teacher- participants with classroom innovation. The project team composed of faculty members in science, engineering, math, and education, has focused for over a decade on training science and math teachers to utilize an inquiry approach to teaching and learning. Inquiry is defined as a lesson that begins with a testable question and through data collection and analysis, answers that question. The level of inquiry is determined by the extent of student direction in a lesson progressing from structured, to guided, to open (Bell, 2005). The INoVATR project utilized best practices from both research and from previous teacher professional development projects to support middle school math and science teachers in their efforts to teach through inquiry strategies in their classrooms. This project, like previous ones, utilized a modified lesson study in which lesson plans are continuously improved based on assessment results (Arani, 2010; Rock, 2005) with targeted lesson reflection (Moseley, 2008) as the primary

engaged in the process of inquiry/investigation and used inquiry strategies of teaching in their classrooms. Our professional development (PD) model is based on effective practice that helps students learn to question and analyze, as a means of understanding science and math content and the nature of science. Through two graduate courses, teachers reflected on their inquiry teaching experiences and learned to use effective assessment strategies to gauge student understandings, misconceptions, and skills. The project incorporated a lesson study approach in which reflection and assessment outcomes guided revision. Teachers worked in Peer Learning Communities (PLCs) with designated inquiry coaches (peers with prior experience and success in inquiry teaching) and the college STEM faculty to facilitate the use of best practices. The project had built-in dissemination plans involving teachers in local, regional, and state-wide workshops on inquiry teaching and learning led by a team of science and education faculty at the university level dedicated to facilitating meaningful reform of instructional practice in STEM education. A rigorous project evaluation monitored the cohort of 13 teachers, over time, in terms of typical program effects (and compared with a group of intermittent program attendees) on outcomes such as attitudes toward inquiry teaching, and the understanding and practice of inquiry teaching. The outcomes of this project contributed to a more generalizable approach to

professional development

activity (Figure 1). This project also adopted two well-recognized professional development strategies: Peer Learning Communities (PLC) of groups of similar

teacher PD by building upon a basic model that the project team has been

continually improving.

After

successes

with

Figure 1. Lesson Study cycle used for each of four lesson plans.

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 43, no. 1

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