Exploring the Effects of Teacher Research Experiences on Classroom Inquiry

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

This project is studying two RET models at Florida State University. The first is offered by the Center for the Integration of Research and Learning (CIRL) at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. The researchers characterize it as a traditional RET in which teachers are placed in individual faculty laboratories to participate in on-going research. Participants in this program come together daily for discussion and activities focused on pedagogical issues. The second is offered by the Office of Science Teaching Activities (OSTA) in the College of Arts and Sciences. It is a non-traditional program with two scientists and two master teachers working full time with participants who develop their own scientific research agendas. In the second program participants also engage in "inquiry on the process of inquiry" in which they conduct a pedagogical research project on the essential features of inquiry. The researchers are examining the impact of these programs on teacher knowledge and practices, professional development and retention, and student learning. The project will "generate a deeper and more generalizable knowledge of the necessary features of RET's." The research goals are to (1) analyze the essential features of RET programs, (2) examine participants' understanding and enactment of inquiry, (3) study interactions with the personal characteristics of participants, and (4) assess the influence of inquiry teaching on student learning in science.