Flexible and Job-Embedded Professional Development for In-Service Technology, Design, and Engineering Educators

Abstract

Technology, design, and engineering (TDE) education teachers have less access to quality professional development than other Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) educators. To address this need, the Transforming Teaching through Implementing Inquiry (T2I2) project created an online professional development system for TDE secondary educators. The online professional learning experiences, defined by National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), reinforce and introduce instructional practices that promote student learning. For this study, two groups of teachers, selected from five states (Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia), completed the T2I2 curricular units and submitted artifacts/evidence of practice. Analysis of the artifacts, using the non-parametric Wilcoxon-signed-ranks Test, provides evidence that the teachers within the pilot studies demonstrated proficient abilities to manage, monitor, and adjust learning environments; contribute to a learning community; and increase their self-assessment following the completion of the curriculum. These results led the authors to suggest further use of the learning platform with in-service teachers in related STEM disciplines that face comparable pedagogical challenges.