Teacher Professional Development for Problem-Based Integration of Technology

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Teacher Professional Development for
Problem-Based Integration of Technology

• James D. Lehman Peggy A. Ertmer
• Jingshu Huang Sung-Hee Park
• Purdue UniversityWest Lafayette, IN
• Kathleen Keck Kathleen Steele
• Crawfordsville Community SchoolsCrawfordsville,
  IN

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Background
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Background

• Increasingly students need to develop
  problem-solving skills
• Changing expectations require new instructional
  approaches
• Student-centered instruction helps meet
  21st-century needs

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Problem/Project-Based Learning

• Situated learning in realistic contexts
• Meaningful problems / projects
• Anchor curriculum
• Student inquiry and usually product creation
• Authentic use of tools (technology)

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Characteristics

• Overarching driving question or problem
• Student-selected specific questions
• Student investigations yielding artifacts
• Collaboration
• Summary/communication of findings

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Role of Technology

• Generally not the focus of direct instruction but
  an authentic tool for
• Acquiring relevant information
• Gathering and manipulating data
• Producing and presenting a culminating
  presentation, often in multimedia format

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Professional Development Needs

• School-based
• Focused on student learning
• Embedded in teachers daily lives
• Collaborative
• Coaching and follow-up

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TKB Project
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Tech-Know-Build

• 5-year Technology Innovation Challenge grant in
  Indiana
• Focused on development and implementation of PBL
  curriculum
• Targeted mainly at sixth grade teachers
• Incorporating portable technologies, electronic
  mentoring, electronic links among partners

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Tech-Know-Build

• Partners
• Crawfordsville Community Schools
• Indianapolis Public Schools
• Purdue University
• Indiana University Purdue University at
  Indianapolis (IUPUI)
• Corporate partners

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Teacher Development Goals

• Promote teachers understanding of PBL
• Facilitate technology skills development
• Support teachers development and use of PBL
  activities incorporating technology

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Development Approach

• Initial intensive experience consisting of
• PBL modeling activity involving teachers and
  students
• Technology skills development
• Teacher development of PBL curriculum units
• Teacher implementation of PBL units with
  follow-up and support

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Implementation

• 2000-01 academic year
• 2-day modeling activity in fall
• Semester-long in-service course in fall
• PBL units implemented in spring, 2001
• 2001-02 academic year
• 3-day modeling activity as part of
• 2-week summer institute
• PBL units implemented during 2001-02 AY

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PBL Modeling Activity
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PBL Modeling Activity

• 2-3 day activity involving
• In-service teachers
• Grade 6-12 students
• Pre-service teachers
• Provides first-hand experience with PBL
• Understand the process
• Experience changing roles
• Use technology as a supporting tool

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2000-01 PBL Modeling Activity

• Driving question
• Whats in our water, why is it there, and what
  does it mean to us?

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Identifying Investigations

• Mixed teams brainstormed possible investigation
  topics related to the driving question.

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Planning

• Teams planned and conducted their own
  investigations.

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Using Technology

• Technology was used as a supporting tool.

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Presentations

• As a culminating activity, teams produced
  multimedia presentations of their investigations.
• Example

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Outcomes
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Reactions (2000-01)
Likert-type Evaluation Items
In this activity, I feel like I learned a lot of science.
In this activity, I feel like I learned new things about using technology.
I would rather work by myself than in groups.
I did not like the hands-on activities.
Compared to what we usually do in school, I liked this activity better.
I really do not like school.
This project is okay, but it does not really relate to me and my life.
Because of this project, I am more confident in my ability to do investigations.
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Reactions (2000-01)
Semantic Differential Evaluation Items
Exciting Boring
Too Easy Challenging
Fun No Fun
Waste Worthwhile
Worst Best
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Reactions (2000-01)

• Responses to open-ended items indicated
  participants
• Liked working with others and learning to use
  technology
• Felt they learned content, information about the
  community, and how to use technology
• Used words like fun, interesting, exciting, and
  worthwhile to describe the activity

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Teachers PBL Units (2000-01/2001-02)

• Why care about rain forest deforestation?
• What makes something strong?
• What good is math and science?
• What makes the good life?
• What is conformity?
• Why should I care about dead stuff?
• How does population impact the quality of life?

See unit
See unit
See unit
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Implementation of Projects
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Project Implementation

• The first group of teachers implemented projects
  with their classes during the spring of 2001.
• As a culminating activity, students and teachers
  presented project information to parents and the
  public at a Project Fair at the end of the school
  year.
• This years projects are being implemented now.

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Student Projects (2000-01)

• Here, middle school students worked on a project
  related to the rain forest.

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Technology Use (2000-01)

• Students used various technologies including
  computers and video.

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Sample Student Products (2000-01)

• Research papers
• The Colonization of Mars Is it Possible?
• The SETI Institute Is it Worth It?
• Pondering the Fourth Dimension
• Posters
• Video
• Presentations

See example
See example
See example
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What Have We Learned?
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PBL Unit Implementation (2000-01)

• 65 of teachers implemented their units
• All agreed that the students learned a lot
• 86 agreed that students enjoyed the unit (based
  on 7 survey respondents)
• 86 agreed that they would try it again, with
  some modification
• (based on 7 survey respondents)

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Strengths (2000-01)

• Driving question provided a good focus
• Students did a good job gathering and presenting
  information
• Students were interested in the investigations
  they chose to pursue

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Challenges (2000-01)

• Time
• Equipment and facilities
• Grouping strategies
• Staying focused on driving question
• Linking investigations to standards
• Assessment

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Conclusions

• PBL - promising approach to developing students
  problem-solving skills
• Technology can play a critical role
• Students gain content knowledge, technology
  skills, and abilities to work cooperatively

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Conclusions

• Modeling is an effective way to help teachers
  understand PBL, gain confidence, and learn new
  approaches
• While PBL can provide many rewards for teachers,
  it can also be challenging
• Follow-up and support is essential for effective
  professional development

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Questions
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For more information

• http//research.soe.purdue.edu/challenge/
• lehman_at_purdue.edu
• pertmer_at_purdue.edu
• kkeck_at_cville.k12.in.us
• ksteele_at_cville.k12.in.us