Teacher Views on and Preferences for Meeting Their Professional Development Needs in STEM

• In Event: Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Multiple Dimensions of Teaching in the Content Area

Abstract

A number of studies have provided research-based characteristics of effective professional development, but just what teachers perceive their professional development needs to be is less understood. The purpose of this study was to better understand teachers’ preferences for professional development in terms of timeframe, format, and topics, as well as the resources and support for professional development they perceive their school to provide. We found teachers to prefer face-to-face professional development programs in half-day or all-day formats, in which they learn how to contextualize learning in real-world issues and can access materials that are ready-to-use for their classes. However, the value that teachers and their administration put on professional development appears to mediate their participation in professional development.

Authors

• David C. Owens, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Troy D. Sadler, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Christopher Daniel Murakami, Chatham University

• Chia-Lin Tsai, University of Northern Colorado