Improving the Participation and Achievement of Students in Diverse Schools by Enhancing Teacher Professional Development in Science and Learning Technologies

Alberto J. Rodriguez (PI); Policy Studies, Language & Cross Cultural Education
Cathy Zozakiewicz & Randy Yerrick (Co-PIs); Teacher Education
College of Education, San Diego State University

Project Abstract:
Our premise is that if students have access to and develop confidence and skills in the use of various technologies to explore science concepts, and how these concepts are relevant in their everyday life, these students will be more inclined to pursue science and technology-related careers in the future. The first step toward achieving this goal is not just to provide teachers with access to new technologies. In addition to equitable access, teachers must have access to the social constructivist theoretical knowledge and pedagogical skills necessary to use learning technologies for meaningful and culturally relevant learning. Therefore, we are proposing an innovative and multi-layered project that seeks to address this challenge.

Our study is a 3-year long professional development and research project that is based in a diverse school context. Cohorts of elementary students are to be selected and followed from fourth grade through sixth grade. Each year these students will be placed in classrooms with teachers who are participating in the project. The transformation of the students knowledge of science and learning technologies, and the teachers abilities and confidence in the use of learning technologies to teach for understanding, will be studied for 3 full years. In addition, each year we plan to recruit a cohort of pre-service teachers to student teach in the participating teachers classrooms. This design aims to provide multiple opportunities for practicing the skills and content knowledge modeled during the science methods courses, and during the professional development institutes, in diverse school contexts.

This project is sponsored the National Science Foundation (Grant #0306156). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.