What Can General Cognition Coding Frameworks Reveal About the Effects of Professional Development on Teaching and Learning?

• In Event: Roundtable Session 43
  In Roundtable Session: Professional Development in the STEM Areas

Abstract

This paper investigated what a general cognition framework for measuring teaching could reveal about (a) the impact of a PD program on teaching and (b) the relationship between teaching practices and student learning. We leveraged a rich dataset that had been collected through the STeLLA-1 project to validate the “Teacher Tasks and Questions” (TTQs) framework, developed independently of that project. The TTQ measures categorized the cognitive/learning behaviors elicited by tasks, instructions, and questions that teachers gave students. We found that the measures detected changes in teaching practices from pre- to post-PD that were consistent with STeLLA-1’s aims; furthermore, some TTQs also predicted student learning. Findings established the criterion validity of the TTQ measures and provided independent confirmation of the PD’s effects using measures of teaching that were not closely aligned to the intervention. The utility of general cognition measures and data sharing are discussed.

Authors

• Vandana Thadani, Loyola Marymount University

• Kathleen J. Roth, Cal Poly Pomona

• Helen E. Garnier, University of California

• Melanie Seyarto, Loyola Marymount University

• Jennifer L. Thompson, Loyola Marymount University

• Nicole Froidevaux, Loyola Marymount University