Aquatic Science, Hybrid Structure, and Metacognitive Strategies: Innovative Aspects of a Science Professional Development Program

• In Event: Innovation in Science Education and Evaluation

Abstract

The Teaching Science as Inquiry (TSI) Aquatic professional development (PD) program is a series of four modules, presented over the course of a year. The goal of the program is to improve middle- and high-school student science process and content understanding by increasing teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge. The program utilized three innovative design strategies, 1) aquatic science content, 2) explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies to teachers, who taught these strategies to their students and 3) a combination of face-to-face and both synchronous and asynchronous online components. We describe our evaluation plan and the methods used to assess program goals and share how the results of our analyses can influence best professional development practices and impact educational policy.

Authors

• Joanna Philippoff, University of Hawaii - Manoa

• Kanesa Seraphin, University of Hawaii at Manoa

• Thanh Truc Thi Nguyen, University of Hawaii - Manoa

• George M. Harrison, University of Hawaii at Manoa

• Paul R. Brandon, University of Hawaii - Manoa