Conference Agenda

Focus of Inquiry

Staying in Science is a ten-year, longitudinal study funded by the National Science Foundation that investigates how authentic, mentored science research experiences in out of school settings may support youths’ persistence in STEM. The study encompasses youth who are currently in college or early in their careers in the workplace. The goal of the research is to understand youth persistence in STEM, and to identify the specific practices of educators, professors and mentors and features of institutional settings that either support youth in STEM careers, or divert them from their path.

Theoretical/ Conceptual Perspectives

We investigate core concepts in community of practice theory such as identity, sense of belonging, practices, and peer and mentor relationships (Lave & Wenger, 1991), and explore the degree to which those elements impact STEM persistence. In this second stage of the study, we focus on institutional practices and educational experiences that contribute to a sense of belonging or othering and strengthen or attenuate youth identities as someone who can do STEM work.

Data & Method

Our mixed-methods study gathers data from participating youth (N=358), including annual surveys, social network analysis, and interviews (N=30). We include a group of youth as co-researchers who provide feedback on instruments, analyze data, and report findings. Survey instruments includes a bank of items that gather data on youth sense of belonging or othering, experiences with microaggressions and racism, as well as flourishing. Interviews explore students’ educational and work experiences at the course, degree/major and institutional level.

Findings

Participants represent groups historically marginalized in STEM: 76% identify as people of color, 46% have one or more parent born outside the US and 39% are first generation college students. Participants in our study intend to remain in STEM: 75% of participants planned to or were majoring in STEM in college. Survey and interview data revealed a set of strategies and practices by educators and educational institutions that either contributed to youth sense of belonging or othering, and that supported and guided them or diverted from their paths. For instance, our social network analysis revealed that STEM mentors named as effective in youth networks were not simply providing guidance and advice, but helping youth feel a sense of belonging and acceptance in their field of interest.

Educational Importance for Practice and Theory

Our participants represent a population at the center of concerns about equitable science participation; they are passionate about STEM and have strong prior records of achievement in STEM. A network of knowledgeable adults able to support their development and persistence is critical to their success. This project shares findings about the practices, routines, and structures that educators and mentors have enacted that have been either critical to youth success or diverted them from productive pathways. We focus on sharing strategies that K-12 educators, as well as college and university faculty, can implement in their educational settings to support students who have been historically marginalized, responding directly to the ICSEI call for research that can inform leadership in education.

Context

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers and school leaders sought to maximize the effectiveness of remote teaching and of technology-enabled teaching. As Covid-19 recedes, such innovations can be retained to help shape education reform.

Doucet (2020) highlights formative assessment and timely feedback to online learners as crucial elements of remote learning. Remote schooling proved problematic for some students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) - how students are metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their own learning. If implemented successfully in class, formative feedback—the process by which students learn how well they are achieving and what they need to do to improve their work—can help develop students’ SRL and improve their achievement. This study explores the link between digital formative feedback and SRL and how school level initiatives amongst staff in one jurisdiction might foster enhanced practice. Three questions guide the research.

1. To what extent can digital feedback enhance students’ performance, especially in relation to high school chemistry?

2. To what extent can digital feedback enhance students’ SRL?

3. What school-level strategies are employed to develop the capacity of high school chemistry teachers in relation to digital feedback?

Methodology

The study adopts a qualitative approach, including two data collection methods: a systematic literature review (Gough et al., 2012); and analysis of selected school websites. The literature review examines the relationship between digital feedback, students’ SRL and performance. The research is framed through Zimmerman’s (2002) conceptualization of SRL as a three-stage process involving Forethought, Performance, and Self-reflection, exploring how these stages are reflected in digitally-mediated formative assessment in practice. The study is situated, in part, in the context of chemistry teachers in International Schools in China. Relevant professional development and assessment policies drawn from school websites in two Chinese cities are examined to determine how formative assessment, and particularly, digital feedback, is used in teaching and what collaborative capacity-building practices are employed across teachers within a school. Qualitative data are being generated and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) is used to extract relevant themes and draw conclusions about the research questions.

Emerging findings

Preliminary findings from the literature review highlight the dearth of information specifically related to digital feedback in chemistry, suggesting an under-researched area. Some research shows that digital formative feedback is beneficial when applied in classroom (Barana & Marchisio, 2016; Bhagat & Spector, 2017); facilitates mastering knowledge and skills by influencing students’ motivation; and helps inform subsequent instruction. The review is being broadened to include conference proceedings and grey literature. Some studies link students’ self-regulated ability to enhanced teaching and learning generally, but with relatively little focus on the digital context and remote learning evident during the pandemic and since. There is evidence of some inconsistency between teachers’ technological content knowledge and how to embed technology in practice (Wagner, 2021). This study aims to bridge that gap, including an emphasis on the policies and shared practice in schools that are used to inform and facilitate teachers in building their confidence and competence in digital formative feedback.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences and concerns of three teachers from one post-primary school engaged in the Instructional Leadership Programme. Although the literature reports on a variety of contrasting views on professional learning it also identifies common characteristics of effective professional learning designed to bring about a change in teachers´ instructional practice (Borko, 2004; Desimone, 2009; Wei et al., 2009; Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 2011; Darling-Hammond, 2017).

The Instructional Leadership Programme (ILP), a two-year professional learning programme, is designed to extend and refine the instructional practices of post-primary teachers in Ireland. Teachers and school leaders attend the ILP on a voluntary capacity. The programme provides schools with the opportunity to address specific school improvement requirements around teacher practice. Schools benefit from school improvement when school principals and teachers have the opportunity to identify and pursue their own specific professional learning needs.

The Concern Based Adoption is the framework used to explore how an individual’s concerns influence implementation of an innovation. It provides information on how teachers will adapt to change and provides a framework to anticipate future needs (Hall & Hord, 2015).

Research questions

1. What are the concerns of teachers engaged in refining/extending their instructional practices?

2. What experiences supported teachers engaged in a professional learning programme?

A case study approach informed the design, data collection and methods of analysis for this study. The Stages of Concern questionnaire was administered three times over a year and a half to the three teachers to understand their concerns. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain an understanding of the teachers experiences of changing their practices.

The data collection and analysis was aligned into four phases.

Phase 1- Stages of concern questionnaire in October 2019

Phase 2- Stages of concern questionnaire in March 2020

Phase 3- Semi-structured interviews between June and October 2020

Phase 4- Stages of concern questionnaire in June 2020

Findings

Teachers highest and second highest scores report that teachers are working towards implementation of instructional practices. The results also showed high-levels of collaboration among the teachers to learn more information about their new practices.

Teachers’ experiences of the characteristics of the ILP and professional learning supported them with implementation of instructional practices (the extended period of time, adequate period of time between sessions, teachers attending the programme in a team and modelling of the practices).

This study provides a unique perspective of teachers implementing instructional practices while engaging in a professional learning programme. Exploring these perspectives is important for two reasons. First, the results identified teacher concerns implementing instructional practices on their post-primary classroom while engaging in the ILP. This provides insight into a largely undocumented area of research in Ireland. Findings from this paper have the potential to contribute to research on teachers’ response to change and can contribute to future design of professional learning programmes.

Second, given the paucity of research related to professional learning in the Irish education system this study encourages further exploration into educational change focused on instruction in Ireland.