Identifying Changes in Teacher Practice: The Addition of an Online Journal in a Mixed Methods Study

Final Paper pdf 340KB

Since 2012, a professional development program has operated in central Ohio in conjunction
with these camps to provide 120 hours of contact time to high school science teachers. As a
result, there is a wealth of anecdotal and qualitative evidence demonstrating that this program
has resulted in changes in teacher practice. Teachers who have participated in the program for
multiple years in particular have shown a marked increase in their use of exploratory classroom
activities in lieu of demos and are more likely to employ guided inquiry pedagogy. In addition, a
journaling activity has been developed to analyze the progression and type of changes in teacher
practice across the academic year. These journaling activities are filled out roughly once per
week and ask whether specific activities occurred during a specific lesson. By tracking this
information longitudinally and comparing the results between the treatment and comparison
groups of high school teachers, it is hoped that the study can better identify how and when
changes in teacher practice are occurring. This activity will also be correlated with the Survey of
Enacted Curriculum (SEC), Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP), and focus groups
among participating teachers. This analysis is currently in process during the 16- 17 academic
year. As part of the presentation, the author will outline the methodology and instruments being
used and seek comments, questions, and suggestions from fellow researchers.

Author(s):

Alison Polasik    
Materials Science and Engineering
The Ohio State University
United States

Teresa Shiverdecker    
Department of Educational Studies
The Ohio State University
United States