HR: 14:25h
AN: ED13F-03    [Abstracts]
TI: The University Scientist's Role in Promoting Collaborative K-12 Professional Development
AU: Schuster, D
EM: das384@psu.edu
AF: Pennsylvania State University, College of Education 156 Chambers Bldg., University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: * Brown, L L
EM: lisabrown@psu.edu
AF: Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium 2217 Earth & Engineering Sciences Bldg., University Park, PA 16802 United States
AU: Carlsen, W S
EM: wcarlsen@psu.edu
AF: Pennsylvania State University, College of Education 150 Chambers Bldg., University Park, PA 16802 United States
AB: Comprehensive K-12 science teacher professional development is dependent upon the successful interaction between the university and K-12 communities (National Research Council, 2001), which can be realized through partnerships between university scientists and K-12 science teachers. This paper will identify some best practices of university scientists in the professional development of science teachers, first by citing the professional development and science education literature (Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 1998; National Research Council, 1996a, 1996b), and then by highlighting how these best practices were actualized in summer workshops for science educators offered at Penn State. Each summer the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium supports seven one-week courses for secondary science teachers taught by university scientists from disciplines representative of NASA's research interests. Approximately 100 teachers enroll in these two-credit, graduate-level workshops from a variety of locations and contexts throughout the United States. These summer courses share a number of important features (duration, general format, teacher recruitment and admission, location, number of participants, etc.), making them a unique dataset for comparative research on science teacher professional development. By recognizing the role of university scientists relating to both practice and standards of professional development, we identify areas in which teachers could be empowered to lead and, alternatively, where scientists and administrators should improve and continue to direct-- both supporting a culture of collaboration that builds K-12 science teacher capacity (Fullan, 2001, 2003; Hawley & Valli, 1999). In our observations and analysis of the evaluations, three best practices, as defined by the literature, appeared to distinguish the exceptional workshops: First, teachers give high marks and make affirmative comments about workshops with clearly presented curricular goals. Second, teachers respond well to workshops and the university scientists who taught them when they are treated as professionals. Third, teachers welcome the opportunity to be integrally involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the workshops. By identifying best practices and delineating the roles of university scientists in K-12 professional development, teachers, university faculty, and policy makers are better equipped to improve the quality of professional development programs at all levels; school, district, university, and state, ultimately actualizing the symbiotic relationship that needs to exists between professional development and school improvement efforts (Fullan, 2001, 2003; Hawley & Valli, 1999).
UR: http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/Science4Educators/
DE: 0830 Teacher training
DE: 0840 Evaluation and assessment
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting