"Learning While Teaching": Virtual Study Groups to Support the Implementation of Next Generation Science Standards–Aligned Curricula

• In Event: 79.045 - Examining Successes and Challenges From Five Different Science Teacher Professional Development Projects Around the Next Generation Science Standards

Abstract

The Next Generation Science Exemplar project (NGSX) is a blended professional learning system aimed at supporting the complex shifts in science teaching called for by the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Over the years, NGSX has expanded into four main programs or pathways.

The first is the Introduction to Three-Dimensional Learning Pathway, that brings together K-12 science teachers in face-to-face study groups guided by the NGSX web-based platform and skilled facilitators. This pathway was designed to disrupt the transmission model of science teaching by: 1) having teachers experience an NGSS-aligned curricular unit as students; 2) demonstrating that “academically productive talk” (APT) (Michaels & O’Connor, 2012) is essential for science learning (NRC, 2007); 3) using classroom videos/transcripts to show teachers exemplars of APT; and 4) giving teachers the “talk tools” (Michaels & O’Connor, 2015) they need to facilitate APT. An impact study showed that, upon completion of this pathway, teachers felt more prepared to take on the challenges of science education reform (Reiser et al., 2017).

A second pathway is the Facilitator Pathway, created to prepare teachers, coaches, and PD providers to facilitate NGSX study groups. This pathway enables NGSX to scale up. Principals Learn About, Network, and Support 3-Dimensional Science Learning, the third pathway, was created to address the need for school leaders to support science teachers as they attempt to bring NGSX into their classrooms.

The fourth pathway, called Learning While Teaching (LWT), is the focus of our most recent research. Teachers attend a week-long summer institute to build expertise on a storyline-driven curriculum unit. While enacting the unit in the fall, small cohorts of teachers, who are teaching the same unit, meet in facilitator-guided virtual study groups (VSGs) every other week.

For this study, we focus on the questions: Are teachers engaging in academically productive talk in the VSGs? Does variation in APT among VSGs correspond to variation in teacher learning across groups? To answer these questions, we will analyze recordings of VSG meetings, teachers’ online postings, surveys, and interview data.

Preliminary findings for the first question show that some virtual study groups have more productive talk than others. In VSGs with more productive talk, teachers and facilitators are engaging with each other’s reasoning about why some aspects of enactment did or did not work well. VSGs with less productive talk focus on understanding the unit. Teachers tend to ask more factual questions and receive answers from one another and the facilitators.

Teaching with NGSS requires: 1) change not only from teachers, but from teacher educators and school leaders; and 2) professional development that accommodates teachers as they grow and change over their entire careers. NGSX has grown “taller” to include the different educative roles in schools, and it has grown “wider” by providing incremental opportunities (e.g. teachers first experience an NGSS-aligned unit, then receive support on teaching one before designing and implementing such a unit themselves). We are hopeful that our research will improve current pathways and inform new ones.

Authors

• Leslie Duhaylongsod, Salem State University

• Jean Moon, Tidemark Institute

• Sarah Michaels, Clark University

• Margaret E Foster, Next Generation Science Exemplar System

• Renee A. Affolter, University of Massachusetts - Amherst