A Comparative Case Study Investigating Teacher Professional Learning Communities in Support of an After-School STEM Club

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Investigating Teaching in Formal and Informal STEM Contexts

Abstract

In this comparative case study, Teacher-Coaches (T-Coaches) from two rural middle schools in the southeastern United States (U.S.) participated in a novel version of a PLC, in which teacher professional development sessions and PLC meetings prepared them to lead after-school STEM Club meetings. This study investigated how T-Coach teams interacted during PLCs to plan STEM Club activities, and implement them in after-school STEM Career Clubs. The community of practice social learning framework (enterprise, mutuality, and repertoire) was used to understand how T-Coaches interacted in their PLCs, based on audio recordings of PLC planning meetings. Additionally, field notes taken during STEM Club meetings were used to code the Dimensions of Success observation tool to document how STEM Clubs implemented.

Authors

• Kylie Jayne Swanson, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

• Margaret R. Blanchard, North Carolina State University