Expanding Geospatial Technology Career Development for High School Students Through Teacher Professional Development

• In Event: 21.056 - Creating a Diverse and Data-Capable Workforce Through Innovative STEM Programs

Abstract

Students require facilitated experiences making data-driven decisions before they can be expected to do so effectively in society. These skills can be learned through practice and application in an authentic environment in which students recognize and solve problems (Carnevale, 1999; U.S. Department of Labor, 2000). This project embraces the capability of GIS and introduces Geospatial Inquiry, an instructional model enabling teachers to integrate critical thinking and analysis of geospatial data into instruction.

The project scaled-up an effective PD model (Authors, 2016) which prepares teachers to incorporate Geospatial Inquiry into secondary classrooms. In the scale-up, PD providers were trained to provide Teacher Workshops (TW) nationwide. In TWs, teachers enhance existing lessons to provide students opportunities to collaboratively use GIS as a tool to critically examine relationships and patterns in data and to communicate using spatial data as evidence to support written arguments. Students simultaneously are exposed to STEM careers. To date, 90 teachers and 471 students have participated.

Engaging in the practices of science builds conceptual understanding and inspires youth interest in STEM careers (NRC, 2012), and is manifested through participation in Geospatial Inquiry. PD provides opportunities for teachers to learn to incorporate GIS into existing courses, including learning to make modifications based on context (Kolvoord, et al., 2014). PD must also illuminate the theory behind the new learning approaches, so when teachers make adaptations, critical components for learning are maintained (Singer, Marx, & Krajcik, 2000).

Facilitators learn the principles behind the PD model and Geospatial Inquiry. In TWs, teachers learn geoscience through Geospatial Inquiry and reflect on the process in order to consider how to incorporate best practices of Geospatial Inquiry into instruction.

The project team uses design-based research (The Design-Based Research Collective, 2003) in three development, enactment, analysis, and redesign cycles to understand the flow of information from Facilitation Academies, to Facilitators, to teachers and ultimately to students. The project team identified key components of prior effective GIS PD programs using a learner and outcome focused approach to curriculum development.

Pre-post Academy data, pre-post, delayed-post data and implementation logs following the TWs, and pre-post student data following lessons is collected. Face and content validity for all surveys and interview protocols are supported through review by a panel of experts (Haynes, et al.,1995; Newman & McNeil, 1998). At least two rounds of review and modification for these instruments has been conducted.

This information is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Facilitation Academy, issues associated with learning to implement the TW, issues teachers encounter in implementing Geospatial Inquiry lessons, and to inform future modifications. Observational data of teacher implementation also allows refinement of the materials to increase secondary student interest in and awareness of STEM careers.

Findings provide insight into supports Facilitators need in the implementation, such as how to modify the program for unique contexts while maintaining integrity to underlying principles. We begin to suggest design principles for scaling up teacher PD in order to engage students, who might otherwise be underserved, in data-driven decisionmaking.

Author

• Nena Bloom, Northern Arizona University