Developing Teacher Expertise in the Next Generation Science Standards Through Curricular Co-Design

• In Event: Designing for Teacher Learning and Enduring Reform Within Science Education

Abstract

Developing curriculum aligned to the NGSS poses a formidable design challenge (Krajcik, Codere, Dahsah, Bayer, & Mun, 2014). Overcoming such complex challenges likely requires a diverse collection of expertise (Engeström, Engeström, & Kärkkäinen, 1995). Whereas other design research may utilize only the expertise of researchers in the design of education innovations (Ormel, Pareja Roblin, McKenney, Voogt, & Pieters, 2012), co-design, where teachers, researchers, and developers work together to design education innovations (Penuel, Roschelle, & Shechtman, 2007), inherently leverages diverse forms of expertise. Achieving the vision of the NGSS, however, requires shifts in systems of education to accompany curricular innovations (National Research Council, 2012). Design researchers must consider the implementation context, such as a district’s capacity to support innovations (Fishman, Penuel, Allen, Haugan Cheng, & Sabelli, 2013). Co-design can potentially help increase a district’s implementation capacity by developing cadres of teacher-designers with NGSS expertise.
This descriptive case study examines how and to what degree teachers’ participation in a curricular co-design process supports development of teachers’ expertise in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS; NGSS Lead States, 2013). Specially, we primarily utilized ethnographic methodologies to answer our main research question: How does participation in the co-design of curricular materials affect teachers’ NGSS expertise?
Occurring within a research-practice partnership (Coburn, Penuel, & Geil, 2012), this work involved multiple tiers of participant interaction (Severance, Leary, & Johnson, 2014). Nine teachers, five district administrators, two curriculum writers, and eight researchers consistently participated in design work. Through structured co-design activities, participants developed an 8-week ecosystems unit with teachers as lead authors for most lessons. External reviewers then assessed the unit for NGSS-alignment using an adapted EQuIP rubric (Achieve, 2014). To identify patterns that could address our research question, we developed and applied a coding scheme to all data using inductive and deductive approaches (Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw, 1995). Data sources for our analysis included: (1) twenty-six teacher responses to four surveys, (2) twenty-nine lessons developed by participants and rated by reviewers, (3) five day-long face-to-face design sessions, and (4) fifteen shorter face-to-face or webinar design sessions.
Our analysis suggests teachers’ NGSS expertise increased during the co-design process. Teachers, on average, joined the design process with little understanding of the NGSS. After engaging in structured co-design activities, teachers developed a level of understanding of several key shifts in the NGSS conducive to design work. Looking across survey data, seven of nine teachers cited the importance of integrating science and engineering practices (SEP) into the curriculum; six of nine teachers cited the need to provide coherent experiences for students centered on investigating observable phenomena. Teachers, with some exceptions, also effectively leveraged their NGSS expertise in the design of lessons. External reviewers judged one lesson as failing to integrate SEP and five lessons as not effectively utilizing phenomena. This study provides an example of how co-design efforts can promote the development of teachers’ expertise in the NGSS.

Authors

• Samuel Severance, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Heather Leary, Brigham Young University - Idaho

• Raymond Johnson, University of Colorado - Boulder

• David Quigley, University of Colorado - Boulder