Connecting the Dots from Professional Development to Student Learning
2021-12-01
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Connecting the Dots from Professional Development to Student Learning
Published Date
2021-12-01
Publisher
American Society for Cell Biology
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Article
Abstract
Following professional development (PD), implementation of contemporary topics into high school biology requires teachers to make critical decisions regarding integration of novel content into existing course scope and sequence. Often exciting topics, such as neuroscience, do not perfectly align with standards. Despite commitment to enacting what was learned in the PD, teachers must adapt novel content to their perceptions of good teaching, local context, prior knowledge of their students, and state and district expectations. How teachers decide to integrate curricula encountered from PD programs may affect student outcomes. This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between curricular application strategies following an inquiry-based neuroscience PD and student learning. Post-PD curricular implementation was measured qualitatively through analysis of teacher action plans and classroom observations and quantitatively using hierarchical linear modeling to determine the impact of implementation on student performance. Participation in neuroscience PD predicted improved student learning compared with control teachers. Of the two distinct curricular implementation strategies, enacting a full unit produced significantly greater student learning than integrating neuroscience activities into existing biology units. Insights from this analysis should inform teacher implementation of new curricula after PD on other contemporary biology topics.
Description
This paper describes how teacher training in BrainU improved high school student performance outcomes in neuroscience. ©2021 C. L. Ellingson et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2021 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).
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Funding was provided by National Institutes of Health SEPA R25 OD011131 and the University of Minnesota Medical School to J.M.D.
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DOI:10.1187/cbe.21-02-0035
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Ellingson, Charlene L; Edwards, Katherine; Roehrig, Gillian H; Hoelscher, M. Clark; Haroldson, Rachelle A; Dubinsky, Janet M. (2021). Connecting the Dots from Professional Development to Student Learning. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, DOI:10.1187/cbe.21-02-0035.
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