Efficacy of Prosocial and Active Learning Classrooms: Lessons Learned During COVID

• In Event: Rigorous Research in the Time of COVID: Lessons for Rethinking Educational Research

Abstract

Objective. We address how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our randomized-control trial of Prosocial and Active Learning (PAL) Classrooms and the strategies we used to respond to the disruptions, focusing on changes that may improve future research projects.

Perspectives & Methods: Project Description. PAL Classrooms is an EIR early phase, 5-year program awarded in 2018. The goal was to test a professional development (PD) program for 5th-grade math and science teachers to enhance students' prosocial skills during problem-based, teamwork learning experiences. PAL Classrooms takes place in under-resourced, rural districts. The first two years were for development, followed by a 3-year wait-list RCT with 36 schools. The planned PD included 9 days of in-person sessions, and 6-8 in-class coaching sessions.

Results: COVID-Related Changes. When COVID shut down schools in early 2020, we shifted to fully online PD. Internet access for students and teachers in our rural communities was inadequate. This motivated schools to reopen in fall 2020, but for safety researchers could not enter schools. Our communities did not find fully online PD effective, so we shifted to a hybrid PD model with in-person meetings at non-school sites. Occasionally teachers were in quarantine, so we provided them with SWIVL cameras to stream them into live sessions with their peers.

We initially planned to collect student and teacher outcome data via in-person classroom observations. However, we could not enter schools, so we trained teachers to use their SWIVLs to video-record their classrooms for both coaching sessions and to collect implementation and outcome data.

In AY21-22, schools that had enthusiastically agreed to participate prior to COVID, declined stating that their staff were overwhelmed trying to hire and retain teachers. Thus, we were only able to recruit half our planned number of schools. We were granted a no-cost extension to recruit the remaining half in AY22-23.

Significance: Lessons Learned. First, we have found that hybrid PD may be ideal for rural teachers. We developed a model with a 2-day in-person kickoff, 2 virtual sessions, another 2-day in-person session, a final virtual session, and final 2-day in-person session across a school year. The in-person sessions were vital to creating a sense of community among rural teachers. Yet, the virtual sessions reduced cost, travel burden, and increased flexibility. Hybrid PD incorporates the strength of both in-person and virtual.

Second, COVID became an opportunity to try different approaches to our 6-hour virtual PD sessions. We found that the format most engaging was a 2-hour interactive, synchronous morning session, a 2-hour self-paced work time, and then coming back together for a 2-hour interactive ending session.

Third, we will increase our use of SWIVL-type cameras to collect implementation and outcome observational data in future studies. We found that this technology effectively allows us to observe more than one time per year, allows multiple observers to watch the same lesson, and allows observers to pause and replay for a more accurate, detailed evaluation. We will further discuss the costs and benefits of these changes to our research design in the presentation.

Authors

• Christi Crosby Bergin, University of Missouri
  Presenting Author

• Jen Foster, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lindsay A. Brockmeier, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cara Wylie, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author