HR: 0830h
AN: ED21C-1223    [PDF]
TI: Assessing the IRIS Professional Development Model: Impact Beyond the Workshops
AU: * Hubenthal, M
EM: hubenth@iris.edu
AF: IRIS Consortium, 1200 New York Ave., NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005 United States
AU: Braile, L W
EM: braile@purdue.edu
AF: Purdue University, Earth and Atmospheric Science 550 Stadium Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907 United States
AU: Taber, J J
EM: taber@iris.edu
AF: IRIS Consortium, 1200 New York Ave., NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005 United States
AB: The IRIS Education and Outreach (E\&O) Program has developed a highly effective, one-day professional development experience for formal educators. Leveraging the expertise of its consortium, IRIS delivers content including: plate tectonics, propagation of seismic waves, seismographs, Earth's interior structure. At the core of the IRIS professional development model is the philosophy that changes in teacher behavior can be affected by increasing teacher comfort in the classroom. Science and research organizations such as IRIS are able to increase teachers' comfort in the classroom by providing professional development which: increases an educator's knowledge of scientific content, provides educators with a variety of high-quality, scientifically accurate activities to deliver content to students, and provides educators with experiences involving both the content and the educational activities as the primary means of knowledge transfer. As reflected in a 2002-2003 academic year assessment program, this model has proven to be effective at reaching beyond participants and extending into the educators' classrooms. 76% of respondents report increasing the amount of time they spend teaching seismology or related topics in their classroom as a result of participating in IRIS professional development experience. This increase can be directly attributed to the workshop as 90% of participants report using at least one activity modeled during the workshop upon returning to their classrooms. The reported mean activity usage by teachers upon was 4.5 activities per teacher. Since the inception of the professional development model in 1999, IRIS E\&O has been committed to evaluation. Data derived from assessment is utilized as a key decision making tool, driving a continuous improvement process. As a result, both the model and the assessment methods have become increasingly refined and sophisticated. The alignment of the professional development model within the IRIS E\&O Program framework has resulted in a clarified a definition of success and an increased demand for the collection of new data. Currently, the assessment program is testing tools to examine participant learning, measure the transfer of knowledge and resources from professional development into in classrooms, and measure the use of individual activities.
DE: 6329 Project evaluation
DE: 6605 Education
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting