High-Quality Professional Development for Out-of-School-Time Science Programming

• In Event: Informal Settings as Spaces for Teacher Development

Abstract

Informal learning has become a viable solution to provide students with STEM education that they miss in school. While these OST STEM programs have flourished over the years, there remain questions about methods for training and developing an OST workforce. Studies have identified characteristics of high quality professional development, and documented that quality PD can impact teacher practice. This paper attempts to fill the gap between PD found in formal schools and how it can be useful for informal learning. In this proposal we describe the outcomes of an intervention in which high quality PD characteristics known to be effective in formal school settings were applied to an OST science program.

Authors

• Jacqueline Gayle Van Schooneveld, University of Pennsylvania

• Susan A. Yoon, University of Pennsylvania