DRK-12 PERSPECTIVES ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Grantee leaders in STEM professional development lay the foundation for this Spotlight as they reflect on the current terrain and promising directions for the field.
Emerging Design Principles for Online and Blended PD
Between February and September 2017, awardees representing 11 projects participated in a series of activities designed to elicit and form consensus around emerging design principles for online and blended teacher PD programs in K–12 STEM education. The resulting principles are organized and presented around three themes:
- Motivating and sustaining engagement that builds knowledge and advances professional goals
- Creating opportunities for teachers to collaborate as learners
- Supporting reflection on content and practice
Participating awardees also described opportunities and challenges associated with each theme in online and blended settings. Finally, they highlighted opportunities for further research that could enhance the design principles presented, inform the development of new principles, and address challenges that are common across projects.
Susan Kowalski (BSCS), Brian Reiser (Northwestern University), and Arthur Powell (Rutgers University) reflect on what they've learned through their work developing and implementing PD programs.
Chris Dede describes the spectrum of professional learning that can lead to educational improvement: from informal, self-directed teacher learning to formal professional development.