Developing and Implementing an Alternative Version of FAST Professional Development Mary E. Gray ThanhTruc T. Nguyen Thomas W. Speitel University of Hawai ‛ i at Mānoa April 13, 2005 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting Montreal, Canada

FAST Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching Inquiry-based, middle school science Physical, biological, and earth sciences Exemplary program (USDOE, 2001)

FAST Professional Development All FAST teachers must participate in PD –Certification required to purchase science curricula Content Inquiry Standards Assessment Classroom organization and management Safety

The Challenge To develop and implement an alternative version of FAST I professional development Year Round Schedules

Considerations Current needs of science teachers Future possibilities (emerging technologies) Unique challenges (the dynamic nature of inquiry)

Review of Literature

Review of Literature Professional Development Strong subject area content (Kennedy, 1999) Focus on higher-order teaching strategies (Porter, Garet, Desimone, Yoon, & Birman, 2000) –Collaborative, Same subject-grade-school, Active learning, Consistent with teacher goals

Review of Literature Professional Development Quantity linked to improvements (Radford, 1998; Supovitz, Mayer, & Kahle, 2000; Fishman, Marx, Best, & Revital, 2003) –science content knowledge, process skills, and attitudes Quantity linked to standards based teaching (Supovitz & Turner,2000) Problems with researching inquiry-based teaching and student learning (Fishman et al., 2003)

Review of Literature On-line Learning 3 million adult learners on-line (Waitts & Lewis, 2003) Convenience and increased flexibility (Hülsmann,1999) Evidence of implementation of various pedagogical approaches (Schlager & Schank, 1997)

Review of Literature On-line Learning Quantifiable learning outcomes were not significantly linked to technology adoption (Jones and Paolucci,1998). Focus on motivation, skills and knowledge, self- directed learning, interactive competence, and technology skills (Kabilan, 2004) Increased efficacy and self-perception in teachers (Huai, Braden, White, & Elliot, 2003)

FASTPro

How are the traditional PD and FASTPro different? Two-weeks in duration, face-to-face One-week in duration, face-to-face Conduct 43 investigations Extensive modeling and practicing time Conduct 19 investigations Electronic resource WebCT-based learning community

Inquiry Teaching and learning science through inquiry is a new experience for many teachers and requires a significant change in attitude and behavior.

FASTPro – Addressing Inquiry Strategies (Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles,1998) –Examples Immersion in inquiry into science Coaching and mentoring Technology for professional learning

FASTPro – Addressing Inquiry Change (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, & Hall,1987; Guskey, 2000) –takes time and persistence awkwardness and frustration expected –as teacher’s progress through a change process, their needs for support and assistance change Optimal Mix (Guskey, 2000) –A combination of teacher, program and change agent that will help create a positive relationship for PD to be effective

FASTPro

FASTStart One week face-to-face institute Teachers conduct nearly half of actual student investigations Use inquiry methodology including modeling, discussion, assessment, and practice

FASTeR Observe interactions of students and teachers View and reflect upon investigations not experienced See detailed step-by- step procedure suggestions Movies and animations Web interface –Quicktime and Flash plugins DVD-ROM medium

Examples from FASTeR

Slideshow 9, Density and the Cartesian DiverSlideshow 9 Slideshow 22, Identifying Unknown SubstancesSlideshow 22

FASTForward

Formative Findings Suggest that teachers were able to implement successfully and share teaching practice Added utility, focused and meaningful to teachers’ own environment

Future considerations Infuse technological aspects into the FASTStart face-to-face experience Address credit equivalencies to enable more robust activity requirements Expand to include FAQ’s, indexing, and rich descriptions Expand to include a Website as well as DVD- ROM Automate some computer assisted instruction and feedback mechanisms

Reflections…

Teamwork and flexibility Coordination of equipment and resources

Future Considerations Building capacity Application to other CRDG quality educational programs

Mahalo.

Developing and Implementing an Alternative Version of FAST Professional Development Mary E. Gray ThanhTruc T. Nguyen Thomas W. Speitel University of Hawai ‛ i at Mānoa April 13, 2005 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting Montreal, Canada