Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Online Professional Development for Rural Middle-School Science Teachers

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching in Rural Schools: Perceptions, Practice, and Professional Development (Table 10)

Abstract

In rural, geographically dispersed school districts, access to high-quality face-to-face professional development (PD) is challenging. Our study developed and compared the effectiveness of an online PD for middle-school science teachers working in remote, rural areas of southwest Kansas with an evidence-based traditional face-to-face PD. Fifteen rural middle-school science teacher participants were randomly selected to participate in the online or traditional PD, then taught the Toward High School Biology curriculum to their 334 middle-school students. Findings aligned with our hypothesis that online PD is as effective as traditional in improving student content knowledge. Teachers’ instructional practices in using Next Generation Science Standards improved, as did their use of student-centered instruction and making science relevant to the lives of their students.

Authors

• Brooke A. Moore, Fort Hays State University

• Earl Legleiter, Fort Hays State University