Developing and Implementing an Alternative Version of FAST

Professional DevelopmentMary E. Gray

ThanhTruc T. NguyenThomas W. Speitel

University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa

April 13, 2005American 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 ChallengeTo 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 LiteratureProfessional Development

On-Line LearningInquiry Science

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

InquiryInquiry

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

Examples from FASTeR• Slideshow 9, Density

and the Cartesian Diver

• Slideshow 22, Identifying Unknown Substances

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…

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 DevelopmentMary E. Gray

ThanhTruc T. NguyenThomas W. Speitel

University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa

April 13, 2005American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting

Montreal, Canada