ILETES:InformalLearningEnvironmentsandTeacherEduca9onforSTEMEarlyCareerResearchAwardAISL#1254075

JenniferD.Adams,BrooklynCollegeandTheGraduateCenter,CUNY

OVERVIEWThisEarlyCAREERprojectisanintegratedresearchandeduca8onprojectthatfocusesonformal/informalcollabora8onsandac8vi8esforSTEMteachereduca8on.Thisposterpresentsa)quan8ta8vesurveyfindingsbasedonini8altheore8calframeworkandb)emergingqualita8vefindingsof1.5yearsofanongoingdialoguebetweenagroupofnewteacherswhoengagedindialoguesandsharedteachingar8factsinrela8ontoclassroomscienceteachingandlearningandinformalsciencelearningandexpandedframeworkonteacherlearningandiden8ty.Thecentralques8onsthatguidethelaIerare1)howdoteachersdefineinformalscienceeduca8onand2)howdotheyenacttheirdefini8onsintheirteachingprac8ce?Firstthedefini8onsofformal,informal,nonformallearningarerevisited,thenusingaframeworkofiden8ty,agency,andlearningtoteachteachers’experienceswererestoriedintonarra8vesthatdescribehowteachersdefinedandadaptedinformalsciencelearningintheirclassroomsandusedtheirno8onsofISEtocreateequitablelearningexperiencesfortheirstudents.

Formal,InformalandNonformallearningdefini9ons:ThereareelementsofF,IF,andNF(Mocker&Spear,1982)inalllearningcontextsandwhena]emp9ngtomakethedis9nc9onimportanttounderstandaspectsandinterrela9onshipsofthelearningapproachesassituatedinthecontextsinwhichtheyoccur(Colley,Hodkinson&Malcolm,2002)F Thelearnerdecidesneitherthelearningobjec8vesnorapproach.This

largelydefinesK-12learninganduniversitydegreeprogramsandcer8fica8on.

IF Theobjec8vesarepredetermined,howeverthelearner’sapproachisself-directed,thiswouldprobablydescribemostvisitor’sexperiencesininformalscienceins8tu8ons.

NF Thelearnerdeterminesthelearningobjec8vesandapproach.Thisdescribesthelearningthathappensthrougheverydayconversa8onsandac8vi8esandisoSencloselyrelatedtolearners’culturesandcommuni8es.

Phase2:ILETESTeachermee9ng:Collabora9veTeacherInquiryaroundInformalScienceLearningandScienceTeachinginUrbanClassrooms

Agroupof10newteacherswererecruitedtomeetbi-forabout1.5hourseachoverthecourseof1.5academicyears.Theysharedar8factsoftheirteaching(studentwork,lessonplans,ideas,picturesanddigitalvideorecordingsoftheirteachingenactments)forgroupanalysisanddiscussion.Mee8ngswerealsodigitallyrecordedforlateranalysis.Twomethodologieswereusedtoinformthedataanalysis:narra8veanalysisandgroundedtheory(Charmaz,2005;Strauss&Corbin,1998).Theanalysisofnarra8ves(Polkinghorne,1995)informedthetrajectoriesofteacheriden8ty-developmentincludinghowtheynego8atethedifferentcontextsandins8tu8onsinwhichtheylearntoteachandul8matelydoteach.Theprocessofrestorying,i.e.“reorganizingthenarra8vesintosomegeneraltypeofframework”(Creswell2007,p.56)wasusedtodeterminehowteacheriden8tydevelopsacrosslearning-to-teachcontextswithapar8cularaIen8ontotheroleoftheinformalsciencelearningexperiencesintheirteachingprac8ce.THEORETICALFRAMEWORKTeacheragencyandiden-tyinrela-ontoself,place,prac-ce.Aframeworkthatdescribesiden8ty,agency,andlearningtoteachissalientforunderstandingtherela8onshipbetweeninformalsciencelearningandclassroomteacheriden8ty.Throughtheprocessoflearningtoteach,ateacherdevelopsiden8tyinrela8ontoboththelearningcontextsandinterac8onswithothersinthesecontexts.Teachersenterprofessionallearningwithno8onsofwhatitmeanstoteachandbeateacherandshapetheseno8onsbasedonthecontextsinwhichthetheylearntoteachandenactteachingandinrela8ontoothers(students,colleagues,administrators,etc.)throughoutacareer.Throughthisprocesstheydevelopagencyinteaching;thatislearningandknowingwhichresourcestouse,when,andwhytoteachthesestudents.Definingteacheriden8tyas“thewaysinwhichateacherrepresentsherselfthroughherviews,orienta8ons,actudes,emo8ons,understandings,andknowledgeandbeliefsaboutscienceteachingandlearning”(Avraamidou2014,p.826)allowsusmovebeyondwhatislearnedtofocusmoreonthecontextsinwhichthelearnerengagesandallowsustoaskques8onsaboutwhoateacherisandwhatdoesthismeansintermsofhowsheteaches(Beauchamp&Thomas,2011).Inthissense,teacheriden8tyisnotanendproduct,butratheranongoingprocessteachingandlearningaboutself,others,resources,places,andprac8cesindifferentcontexts,andwhowereareinrela8ontoothers,“iden88esarethepartofselfthataredefinedbythedifferentposi8onsweholdinsociety”(Varelas2012,p.3).Iden-tyandAgencyAgencyisbeliefthattheselfiscapableofeffec8vescienceteaching.Thismeansmakingtherightpedagogicaldecisions,adap8ngandusingdifferentresourcestomeetthosepedagogicaldecisions,andhavingconfidenceinsciencecontentknowledgeandengagingstudentsinsciencelearning.Throughtheprocessoflearning,onegainscapacityintheseskillsandbeginstodevelopaniden8tyassociatedwithcompetenceinthoseskills.Dependingonthelearningcontextsandone’sself-percep8oninrela8ontoothers,onestartstodefinethemselvesas“kind”ofteacher,whetheritisinquiry-based,hands-on,fun,hard,strict,etc.Importanttodevelopingagencyandacorrespondingiden8tyisbeingabletoaccessandappropriateaffordancesavailabletobeaneffec8veteacher(Adams&Gupta,2015).Affordancesincludephysicalandintellectualresources,prac8ces,socialandprofessionalnetworksandotherresourcesthatshapeandenableteachingandlearning.Throughagency,teachersappropriateandadaptaffordancesavailableor,inapolyphonicbricolage(Schmidt,2008),createnewresourcesfromexis8ngonesinordertocreateormaintainapar8cularteachingiden8ty.Agencyallowsonetotransformhowoneusesaffordanceswithinandacrosssecngstoexpandandtransformscienceteachingandlearningopportuni8esavailable.

Quan9ta9veResults:PaIernsinthesurveyresponsesindicatethatILEeducatedteachersa)haveposi8vepercep8onsofstudentsaslearners,b)areorientedtowards“construc8vist”teachingandexperiencesthataffordequitablescience-learning,c)seekout-of-classroomlearningexperiencesforstudentsand,d)havehands-onorientedclassrooms.Significantlinkages(rangingfromsmalltolarge)adheringtoCohen’sCoefficientofDetermina8onGuidelines(1988)werefoundbetweentheteacher’sILEexperiencesandtheirinstruc8onalprac8cesasmeasuredby.AlumnifrombothprogramshaveimplementedtheresourcestheygainedfromtheirILEexperiencesintocurrentcurricula,includinglessonplanningandreplica8onofILEfieldtripsfortheirstudentsaswellturn-keyedtheirexper8seofILEproject-basedassessmentstotheirstudentswhonowproducetheirownILEproject-basedassessments.Significantlinkageswerefoundbetweentheteacher’sactudetowardstheirILEexperiencesandtheirphilosophicalandinstruc8onalbehaviorasmeasuredbyaLikertScale:Agree/Disagree.AlumnifrombothprogramsstronglyadvocateILEexperiencesfortheirstudentsforseveralreasons:boththeircontentknowledgeandthecontentknowledgeoftheirstudentsincreasedasadirectresultoftheseexperiencesandimplementa8onofILEresourcesintocurriculum;teachersbelievethatESL/ELL’s(includingspecialneeds)willgreatlybenefitacademicallyfromtheseexperiences.SimilarlyasadirectresultoftheirILEexperiences,alumnifrombothprogramshavechangedtheirinstruc8onalmethodologyandnowadvocatetheconstruc8vistapproachinaddi8ontotheinquiryapproachforleaningscience.Bothgroupsalsoadvocatetheneedforaddi8onalfundingforILEexperiences.

PHASE1QUANTITATIVEDATA69K-12teacherswhocurrentlyteachinalargeurbanandarealumnifromtwouniversity-basedformal/informalprogramsforteachereduca8on.Forty-three(62%)femaleand26(38%)male;agesspan6decadeswith60%21and35y.o.;83%(n=57)havepostgraduatedegreesvariedcontentareas.InstrumentsTheself-administeredques8onnaireusedfortheanalyseswastheInformalLearningEnvironmentSurvey,v.1(Adams,O’Connor-Petruso&Miele,2015).ThissurveyinstrumentwaspilottestedandhasastrongCronbach'salphareliabilitycoefficientof.955.Thesurveyconsistsof60ques8onsandisdividedintofiveparts:PartI)Demographics,PartII)Programs,PartIII)Frequencies(whichmeasuretheteacher’s“behaviorsandprac8ces”),PartIV)Actude(whichmeasurethe“teacher’spercep8onsofcoursesthatwerebeneficialandmo8va8ng”),PartV)TeacherIden8ty(whichagainmeasurestheteacher’s“beliefs”),PartV)Mo8va8on,andPartVI)Open-EndedQues8on.Procedure:Allpar8cipantswereaskedtotaketheonlinesurveylocatedathIp://globalskillsstudies.org.Datawerecollectedoverafive-weekperiod.AnalysisTheresearchdatawereanalyzedusingIBM'sPASW(Predic8veAnaly8csSoSware),v.22.Descrip8vesta8s8csandcorrela8onswereruntoascertainfrequenciesandlinkages.ResultsarereportedaswellaspaIernsamongteacheriden8tyvariables.

•  ISEasawaytogettechnicalexperienceinanvoca8onal-orientedschool;focusedonworkforcedevelopment

• Describedhands-onac8vi8esinrela8ontowork-relatedskills

• “Informal”alsorelatedtothespontaneousandunexpectedlearningexperiencesintheclassroom

• Viewsscienceasawayofexpandingtheirexperiences;addingenrichmenttothestandardizedsubjects.

• Advocatesformeaningfullearning;resistsadministra8veconstraints

• Meaningfullearningequalshandsonac8vi8esandfieldtrips

• Aimsfor“learningtobespontaneous…[for]studentstofindthattheworkisinteres8ngandwanttolearnmore…ini8atetheirownlearningitishardtoaccomplishintheclassroombutitiswhatyoushoulddo…[crea8ng]lifelonglearners.”

• Strivedtobe“moreinformal”throughhandsonac8vi8esandstudentchoice.

•  Informalsciencelearningmeanscrea8ngaspacewherestudentscouldengageinsciencelearningindifferentwaysandattheirownpace

• Methodological;hecarefullythinksaboutwhathewantstoaccomplishandplansaccordinglyhowhewillaffordhisstudentsself-direc8onandchoicewithintheconstraintsofanassessment-basedcurriculum.

ORCHESTRATOR STRIVER

WORKFORCEDEVELOPERADVOCATE

Figure1:“Archetypes”ofISLTeacherIden88es.Notmeanttoessen8alizebuttodescribethedifferentwaysteacherspresentthemselvesinrela8ontoISLintheclassroom.

OVERARCHINGTHEMES•  Teachersappropriateddifferentaspectsofinformalsciencelearningand

enactedthemintheirteachinginwaysthattheysawbestmettheirstudents’needsaslearnersandresonatedwiththeiriden88esaseducators.

•  Thedefini8onsofF,IF,andNF,astheyplayoutinthelivesofteachersdonotfallneatlyintomatrixoflearnerobjec8veandapproach,butratherconvergeandoverlapinsalientways.

•  Teachersdevelopediden88esandcorrespondingagenciesthatrelatedtohowtheydefined,adapted,andusedISEresourcesintheirclassrooms.

•  Commonthemesacrossteacherswere:•  Hands-onac8vi8es•  Self-directedlearning•  Fieldtrips•  Problem-basedlearning•  Advocacyformeaningfulscience•  ISEasawayofexpandingstudents’experienceswith

science•  Noveltyandcrea8vityinteachingenactments

•  However,thedegreetowhichteachersenactedtheseaspectsandthelearningexperiencescreatedbasedontheseno8onspresentedverydifferentlydependingonthe“kind”ofteacher—therolethattheteachersviewedthemselvesinrela8ontotheirstudents.

SUMMARY•  Inordertohelpalllearnersachievescienceliteracy,itisimportantto

teachteachershowtocreateequitablelearningenvironmentsintheirclassroomandhowtoappropriateresourcesbeyondtheclassroomforsciencelearning.

•  TeacherswilladaptISEresourcesaccordingtothechoicestheymakeasteachers,theirownexperienceswithteachingandtheroleinwhichtheyfindthemselvesvis-à-vistheirstudents.

•  Teachers“voiced”theirpedagogyindifferent,yetmeaningfulwaysthatweredifferentfromestablisheddescrip8onsofinformalsciencelearning.

IMPLICATIONS•  Itisnecessarytobegintothinkdifferentlyabouttherela8onship

betweeninformalsciencelearningandteacheriden8ty;movingfromteachingteacherstouseresourcestowardsthinkingabouthowthehelpteachersappropriateandadaptresourcestomeetstudents’needsthuscrea8ngmoreopportuni8esforequitablesciencelearningand

•  Thinkingmoreaboutthemeaningsthatteachersmakeofpar8cularresourcesinrela8ontotheiriden88esandtheirself-perceivedrolesvis-à-vistheirstudents.

SelectedReferences:Adams,J.D.&Gupta,P.(2015).InformalScienceIns8tu8onsAndLearningToTeach:AnExamina8onOfIden8ty,AgencyAndAffordances.JournalofResearchinScienceTeaching,DOI:10.1002/tea.21270Avraamidou,L.(2014).Developingareform-mindedscienceteachingiden8ty:Theroleofinformalscienceenvironments.JournalofScienceTeacherEduca8on,25,823-843.Charmaz,K.(2005).Groundedtheoryinthe21stCentury:Applica8onsforadvancingsocialjus8cestudies.InN.Denzin&Y.Lincoln(Eds.)TheSagehandbookofqualita-veresearch3rdedi-on.ThousandOaks,CA:SagePublica8ons.Colley,H.,Hodkinson,P.,&Malcolm,J.,(2002).Non-formallearning:Mappingtheconceptualterrain.Consulta8onReport,Leeds:UniversityofLeedsLifelongLearningIns8tute.AlsoavailableintheInformalEduca8onArchives:hIp://www.Infed.org/archives/etexts/colley_informal_learning.htmCreswell,J.W.(2007).Qualita-veinquiryandresearchdesign:Choosingamongfiveapproaches.ThousandOaks,CA:SagePublishers.Hofstein,A.&Rosenfeld,S.(1997).Bridgingthegapbetweenformalandinformalsciencelearning.StudiesinScienceEduca8on,28,87-112.Mocker,D.W.,&Spear,G.E.(1982)"LifelongLearning:Formal,Nonformal,Informal,andSelf-Directed."Informa8onSeriesNo.241.Columbus:ERICClearinghouseonAdult,Career,andVoca8onalEduca8on,TheNa8onalCenterforResearchinVoca8onalEduca8on,TheOhioStateUniversity(ERICDocumentReproduc8onServiceNo.ED220723).

Contact:jadams@brooklyn.cuny.edu