TY - JOUR
T1 - Collaborative professional development in chemistry education research
T2 - Bridging the gap between research and practice
AU - Szteinberg, Gabriela
AU - Balicki, Scott
AU - Banks, Gregory
AU - Clinchot, Michael
AU - Cullipher, Steven
AU - Huie, Robert
AU - Lambertz, Jennifer
AU - Lewis, Rebecca
AU - Ngai, Courtney
AU - Weinrich, Melissa
AU - Talanquer, Vicente
AU - Sevian, Hannah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
PY - 2014/9/9
Y1 - 2014/9/9
N2 - Professional development that bridges gaps between educational research and practice is needed. However, bridging gaps can be difficult because teachers and educational researchers often belong to different Communities of Practice, as their activities, goals, and means of achieving those goals often differ. Meaningful collaboration among teachers and educational researchers can create a merged Community of Practice in which both teachers and educational researchers mutually benefit. A collaboration of this type is described that centered on investigating students' abilities to apply chemical thinking when engaged in authentic tasks. We describe the design-based principles behind the collaboration, the work of the collaborative team, and a self-evaluation of results interpreted through a Communities-of-Practice perspective, with primary focus on the teachers' perceptions. Analysis revealed ways in which teachers' assessments shifted toward more research-based practice and ways in which teachers navigated the research process. Implications for affordances and constraints of such collaborations among teachers and educational researchers are discussed.
AB - Professional development that bridges gaps between educational research and practice is needed. However, bridging gaps can be difficult because teachers and educational researchers often belong to different Communities of Practice, as their activities, goals, and means of achieving those goals often differ. Meaningful collaboration among teachers and educational researchers can create a merged Community of Practice in which both teachers and educational researchers mutually benefit. A collaboration of this type is described that centered on investigating students' abilities to apply chemical thinking when engaged in authentic tasks. We describe the design-based principles behind the collaboration, the work of the collaborative team, and a self-evaluation of results interpreted through a Communities-of-Practice perspective, with primary focus on the teachers' perceptions. Analysis revealed ways in which teachers' assessments shifted toward more research-based practice and ways in which teachers navigated the research process. Implications for affordances and constraints of such collaborations among teachers and educational researchers are discussed.
KW - Chemical Education Research
KW - Elementary/Middle School Science
KW - High School/Introductory Chemistry
KW - Learning Theories
KW - Professional Development
KW - Public Understanding/Outreach
KW - Testing/Assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84922311502&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84922311502&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/ed5003042
DO - 10.1021/ed5003042
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84922311502
VL - 91
SP - 1401
EP - 1408
JO - Journal of Chemical Education
JF - Journal of Chemical Education
SN - 0021-9584
IS - 9
ER -