As educational accountability pressures and science teacher attrition rates within American public-school systems continue to rise, so does the need for improved reform-based professional development (PD) opportunities that allow science educators to challenge their pedagogical beliefs and teaching practices. This qualitative case study explores…

It is critical to provide inservice elementary teachers the opportunity to advance their science instruction, which in turn can positively impact not only their practice but also their perceptions towards science teaching and learning. Too often, science-specific professional development (PD) programs are scarcely provided as a result of an…

This research presents the investigation of physics students' and physics faculty members' professional development and a design methodology via which we could best support them in their professional development. In particular, the first part of this dissertation will focus on undergraduate upper-division physics students' conceptual learning and…

Data-rich activities provide an opportunity to develop core competencies in both science and mathematics identified in curricular standards. Perhaps even more importantly work with data puts learners in the position to use data to ask and answer questions, a potentially empowering capability. Research on work with data has focused on cognitive…

Reflection is frequently cited in the literature as integral to the type of learning in which professionals engage. However, throughout the literature the concept of reflection has been ill-defined and shown to be difficult to operationalize in studies. Beginning with a comprehensive review of the literature, this study sought to develop a…