Impacts of a Practice-Based Professional Development Program on Elementary Teachers' Facilitation of and Student Engagement With Scientific Argumentation

This article reports an investigation of a professional development program to enhance elementary teachers' ability to engage their students in argument from evidence in science. Using a quasi-experimental approach, three versions were compared: Version A—a 1-week summer institute with a 2-week...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American educational research journal 2019-08, Vol.56 (4), p.1067-1112
Main Authors: Osbome, Jonathan F., Borko, Hilda, Fishman, Evan, Zaccarelli, Florencia Gomez, Berson, Eric, Busch, K. C., Reigh, Emily, Tseng, Anita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Educational research
Elementary School Science
Elementary School Teachers
Faculty Development
Grade 5
Learner Engagement
Persuasive Discourse
Practicums
Professional development
Science Achievement
Science education
Science Instruction
Science Teachers
Scientific and Technical Information
Teacher Participation
Teachers
Teaching Methods
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Summary:This article reports an investigation of a professional development program to enhance elementary teachers' ability to engage their students in argument from evidence in science. Using a quasi-experimental approach, three versions were compared: Version A—a 1-week summer institute with a 2-week summer practicum experience and 8 follow-up days (four per year), Version B without the practicum experience, and Version C—a revision of Version A in Year 3. All teachers were videoed twice each year, and the videos were rated using an instrument to measure the quality of discourse. All versions led to a significant improvement in teachers' facilitation of classroom discourse. Neither the practicum nor the revised program had an additional effect. Implications for the field are discussed.
ISSN:0002-8312
1935-1011
DOI:10.3102/0002831218812059