Wu Meng-Yang M, Magnone KatieMarie, Tasker Roy, Yezierski Ellen J
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, United States.
School of Science, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, New South Wales 2751, Australia.
J Chem Educ. 2021 Jul 23;98(8):2518-2526. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00181. eCollection 2021 Aug 10.
COVID-19 has thrust educators into a period of uncertainty, complicating conventional ways of teaching and learning. We suspect that the pandemic has magnified the challenges that some high school teachers already experience, particularly when they are the sole chemistry teacher at their school. The pandemic has likely inhibited collegial interactions and access to professional development (PD). Our reflections from redesigning a face-to-face PD program to one that is remotely delivered provide recommendations that advance PD accessibility and interactivity to mitigate isolation and other longstanding challenges teachers may face. In this article, we discuss how the cognitive learning model informed emergent teaching practices that guided the transformation of the PD's implementation for 20 high school chemistry teachers. Our reflections on the PD's strengths, areas for improvement, and insights alongside participant feedback provide enduring guidelines for fellow teacher educators. Specifically, we forward the importance of conceptualizing theory-informed design principles first, and then modifying the delivery with appropriate tools and technologies. As PD facilitators, we also draw attention to the necessity for flexibility. Remaining open to adaptation during implementation is crucial to advance teacher learning and engagement. We hope our process for how and why our PD program was redesigned will inspire future teacher educators to explore new, postpandemic ways of maximizing high-quality PD experiences.
新冠疫情使教育工作者陷入了一段充满不确定性的时期，让传统的教学方式变得复杂起来。我们怀疑，这场大流行放大了一些高中教师已经面临的挑战，尤其是当他们是所在学校唯一的化学老师时。疫情可能抑制了教师之间的交流互动以及参与专业发展（PD）的机会。我们从将面对面的专业发展项目重新设计为远程提供的项目中所获得的思考，提出了一些建议，以提高专业发展的可及性和互动性，从而缓解教师可能面临的孤立感和其他长期存在的挑战。在本文中，我们讨论了认知学习模型如何为新兴的教学实践提供信息，这些实践指导了面向20名高中化学教师的专业发展项目实施方式的转变。我们对该专业发展项目的优势、改进领域的思考以及与参与者反馈相结合的见解，为其他教师教育工作者提供了持久的指导方针。具体而言，我们强调首先要将基于理论的设计原则概念化，然后使用适当的工具和技术来调整项目的实施方式。作为专业发展项目的推动者，我们还提请注意灵活性的必要性。在实施过程中保持开放的调整态度对于促进教师学习和参与至关重要。我们希望我们关于专业发展项目如何以及为何进行重新设计的过程，能够激励未来的教师教育工作者探索新的、疫情后的方式，以最大限度地提升高质量的专业发展体验。
