Looking for PCK in All the Wrong Places

1
Looking for PCK in All the Wrong Places?
Janet Carlson, BSCS Joseph A. Taylor, BSCS NSF
DRK12 PI Meeting November 2009
2
What are Your Experiences?

• Measuring PCK?
• What instruments?
• What successes?
• What challenges?

3
Project PRIME

• Promoting Reform through Instructional Materials
  that Educate
• Collaborative project with the Center for
  Research and Evaluation at BSCS and the Center
  for Science Teaching and Learning at NAU
• Funded by NSF in 2004 through the Teacher
  Professional Continuum (TPC) program
• Goal Study PCK growth in teachers who implement
  highly educative curriculum materials with and
  without professional development. Correlate to
  student achievement.

4
PRIME Time Line
40 HS biology teachers in Arizona
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PRIME Research Questions

• 1.In what ways does Project PRIME influence
  participants development of pedagogical content
  knowledge (PCK)?
• 2. In what ways does Project PRIME influence
  participants
• Content knowledge (CK)
• Subject matter, Inquiry, Nature of Science
• Pedagogical knowledge (PK)
• Teaching strategies
• Context knowledge (CxK)
• Student conceptions, diverse learners
• 3. Is the whole of PCK similar to or different
  from its parts (CK, PK, CxK)? If so, how?

6
PRIME Research Questions

• 4a. How does student learning change over time?
• 4b. What is the relationship between
  participants PCK and their students learning?
• 5. In what ways does Project PRIME influence the
  development and sustainability of a professional
  learning community?

7
Wheres the PCK?

• Given the structure of the project, what
  opportunities do you think exist for measuring
  PCK?

8
Measurements

• PCK Reflections (CK, PK, CxK, PCK)
• Structured Interviews (CK, PK, CxK, PCK)
• Videotapes of Classroom Instruction (CK, PK, CxK,
  PCK, Fidelity)
• Major Field Test for Biology (ETS) (CK)
• Reform Teaching Observation Protocol (CK, PK,
  CxK)
• Student Achievement
• Student Work
• Professional Learning Community Rating Scale

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Data Collection Schedule

• Baseline, prior to program start
• Following summer professional development
• Following professional development and teaching
  the topic once or following teaching without
  professional development
• Teaching followed by professional development in
  summer 2
• Following professional development and teaching
  the topic twice or teaching in year 1, followed
  by professional development and teaching in year 2

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Topics for PCK Reflections
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Studying the Scoring Rubric

• Review your assigned page of the rubric. Consider
  this question
• What evidence would you expect to see in a video
  or written reflection to rate it advanced?
• Share your thoughts with the large group.

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Looking at the Evidence Baseline

• Read the baseline reflection on the yellow sheet.
• Score it on the rubric by placing a B-DR in
  each appropriate box.
• Discuss your scores with the others at your
  table.
• Read the baseline reflection on the green sheet.
• Score it on the rubric by placing a B-DS in
  each appropriate box.
• Discuss your scores with the others at your
  table.

13
Context for Video
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Looking at the Evidence 1st Reflection Post
Intervention (PD and teaching)

• Watch the video of Dwight.
• Score it on the rubric by placing a PDT-DR in
  each appropriate box.
• Discuss your scores with your group.
• Watch the video of Donna.
• Score it on the rubric by placing a PDT-DS in
  each appropriate box.
• Discuss your scores with your group.

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Looking at the Evidence Last Reflection

• Read the last reflection on the yellow sheet.
• Score it on the rubric by placing a PDTT-DR in
  each appropriate box.
• Discuss results with your group.
• Read the last reflection on the green sheet.
• Score it on the rubric by placing a PDTT-DS in
  each appropriate box.
• Discuss results with your group.

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Discussion Questions

• What challenges did you find working with the
  data?
• What challenges did you find using the rubric?
• How did the data in the form of written
  reflection compare to seeing data in video
  format?
• What promises do you see for measuring PCK?
• What questions do you have now?

17
Thank you

• To contact us
• Janet Carlson jcarlson_at_bscs.org
• Joe Taylor jtaylor_at_bscs.org
• Slides are available at bscs.org/sessions (click
  on the link for previous BSCS sessions)
• Paper reviewing biology curriculum materials is
  available at http//www.bscs.org/pdf/prensentation
  highschoolbiotext06.pdf
• Beyer, C., Delgado, C., Davis, E.A., and Krajcik,
  J.S. (April, 2006). Investigating high school
  biology texts as educative curriculum materials
  Curriculum review process. Report commissioned by
  Project PRIME