The NSTA Learning Center desires to showcase the real impact teachers and students
achieve when experiencing our high quality resources and experiences as part of
their personalized learning, whether as an individual or as part of a blended professional
development experience at the district or state level. Below you will find links to several peer-reviewed publications, a third-party independent evaluation, and several recent presentations that share our research and story:
Veal, W., Malone, K., Wenner, J.A., Odell, M., & Hines, S.M. (2019). Increasing science teacher candidates’ ability to become lifelong learners through a professional online learning community. Innovations in Science Teacher Education, 4(1). Retrieved from https://innovations.theaste.org/increasing-science-teacher-candidates-ability-to-become-lifelong-learners-through-a-professional-online-learning-community/
Abstract:
This article describes the use of an online professional learning community within the context of K-8 science education methods courses. The article describes the unique usage of the learning community with preservice teachers at different certification levels within the context of five distinct universities. While each approach is different there exists commonalities of usage. Specifically, the site is used to develop mastery of science content, exposure to pedagogical content knowledge, and classroom activities that focus on authentic science practices. Each case provides specific details of how the preservice teachers were immersed into a learning community that can serve them throughout their teaching career.
Renee M. Clary, James A. Dunne, Anastasia D. Elder, Svein Saebo, Debbie J. Beard, Charles L. Wax, Joshua Winter & Deborah L. Tucker (2017) Optimizing Online Content Instruction for Effective Hybrid Teacher Professional Development Programs, Journal of Science Teacher Education, 28:6, 507-521, DOI: 10.1080/1046560X.2017.1379859
Abstract:
The Teacher Academy in the Natural Sciences (TANS) provided middle school (U.S. Grades 6–8) teachers (N = 81) with intensive professional development in chemistry, geosciences, and physics through 13 days of face-to-face instruction that was extended with 2 online science modules per discipline. Because we administered online module assessments before the summer academy (pretest), after the summer academy (Post 1), and after the online module was assigned (Post 2), we were able to analyze via dependent t tests the learning components contributed by the online module. Only 1 geosciences module resulted in significant gains after it was assigned. Other modules (2 physics, 1 geosciences) resulted in gains before module assignments, at the end of the 10-day summer academy. Although the 2 chemistry modules exhibited positive score increases, no significant gains were made. Calculated Pearson correlation coefficients revealed no association between participants’ online access times and science content gains. This research documents benefits of hybrid teacher professional development programs and offers recommendations for their optimized effectiveness, including more consistent instructor/participant online access.
Karam, R., Strauss, S., Byers, A., Kase, C., & Cefalu, M. (2017). The role of online communities of practice in promoting sociotechnical capital among science teachers. Educational Technology Research and Development. doi:10.1007/s11423-017-9541-2 URL: http://rdcu.be/v5qL
Abstract:
This study explores the diffusion of Web 2.0 technologies among science educators and the ways that these technologies are used to build teacher professional communities of practice (CoP) in life sciences and physical sciences. We used surveys and web analytics collected over a 21-month period to examine factors that motivate teachers to collaborate in these CoPs and the extent to which collaborative participation contributes to the development of sociotechnical capital and job outcomes, such as instructional practices and self-efficacy for science instruction. Results showed that only the lack of collocated peers at teachers’ schools predicted CoP participation. Participation did not predict job outcomes, but it did predict some aspects of sociotechnical capital, such as a cohesive climate and situated knowledge. In addition, sociotechnical capital was associated with job outcomes, including use of inquiry-based instruction, use of inquiry-based classroom activities and teacher self-efficacy. The lack of effect of most of the antecedent variables in predicting participation and the relatively minor role of participation in contributing to sociotechnical capital and job outcomes may be explained by floor effects on participation due to infrequent and ephemeral engagement of CoP members. Although participation rates were generally low, the positive association of participation with sociotechnical capital as well as generally favorable ratings of sociotechnical constructs suggest that online CoPs may have value for distributed science educators. Future research should address whether persistent participation by individuals is needed to build and sustain sociotechnical capital in online CoPs and to enhance development of participants’ teaching attitudes/practices.
Byers, A. (2016, April 6, 2016). Insights into Professional Learning Communities and Teacher Learning Online: The NSTA Learning Center. Paper presented at the 100K in 10 Fifth Annual Partner Summit, NASA Johonson Space Center, Houston, TX. See: http://100kin10-summit.org.
Abstract: Two day summit focused on sharing strategies and highlighting programs in support of the goal to recruit and train 100,000 highly effective Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Teachers (STEM) in the next 10 years. At five years into the project, nearly 30,000 new STEM teachers have entered the profession. NSTA was invited to share our strategies for building effective blended professional learning networks and communities in partnership with universities and districts for the summit strand titled: Teachers benefit from opportunities to learn from and with each other.
- Byers, A., & Mendez, F. (2016). Blended professional learning for science educators: The NSTA learning center. In C. Dede, A. Eisencraft, K. Furmin, & A. Hartley (Eds.), Teacher Learning in the Digital Age: Online Professional Development in STEM Education. Boston: Harvard Press. See: http://hepg.org/hep-home/books/teacher-learning-in-the-digital-age
Abstract: The purpose of the NSTA Learning Center is to enhance the learning of teachers by providing a suite of tools, resources, and opportunities that support their long term growth based on their unique learning needs and preferences within a collaborative learning environment. This chapter provides an overview of our professional learning community platform and the various consumption models that support personalized individual learning for self-directed learners as part of a large open professional network, as well as those schools, districts, and universities working with groups of educators (in-service and per-service) collaborating in concert with each other as part of a cohort. A robust recognition system that involves social networking and gamification strategies, such as badges and micro-credentials are discussed and two university mini-case studies are presented. With over 180,000 users, 70,000 user-generated posts across 8,000 topics in our forums, 72,000 user resources uploaded across users’ personal libraries, over 17,000 user generated public collections shared, and 70,000 badges awarded to over 164,000 individuals, the NSTA Learning Center is a robust professional learning network and platform that seeks to address the scale needed to reach our 2 million teachers of science across the US.
- Personalized workplace learning: An exploratory study on digital badging within
a teacher professional development program. British Journal of Educational Technology,
45(6), 1136-1148. doi: 0.1111/bjet.12200. Gamrat, C., Zimmerman, H. T., Dudek, J., & Peck, K. (2014).
Abstract: To provide customized workplace learning opportunities, a digital
badge system was designed by a university, governmental agency and national professional
association to support teachers’ implementation of professional development (PD).
Teacher Learning Journeys (TLJ) is an approach that allows for teachers to customize
their PD experience to their workplace and make decisions about what PD they need
based on their expertise and interests. The digital badging provided and assessed
experiences in online PD. Using a theoretical framework that focused on decision
making and customization as part of personalization, researchers conducted a theory-driven
thematic analysis on teachers’ TLJ artifacts (goal statements, interviews and reflective
activity logs). Data came from 36 teachers who completed 154 PD activities over
a 3-month period. A case study was developed from an in-depth analysis of eight
teachers’ artifacts and interviews. Using TLJ as a PD tool, teachers made decisions
when selecting learning goals they identified as personally relevant. Teachers customized
the level of assessment and the specific content depth to personalize the PD training
for workplace constraints. This project informs future research aiming to understand
how personalized learning activities support teachers and other professional learners
in a variety of workplaces.
- Value creation in online communities for educators. British Journal of Educational Technology. (2014). doi: 10.1111/bjet.12168. Booth, S. E. and Kellogg, S. B.
Abstract: The popularity and pervasiveness of online communities have led researchers and prac-titioners alike to closely examine the utility of online communities for supporting and facilitating professional learning. As economic constraints leave fewer resources avail-able for professional development, educators in particular are examining the potential of online communities to enhance and extend traditional professional development oppor-tunities. Leveraging the potential of online communities requires an in-depth under-standing of the value that members find through their participation. This study used Wenger, Trayner and de Laat’s value creation framework to better understand cycles of value creation in online communities. Findings illuminate how members with varying perspectives and levels of expertise co-construct new forms of meaning and understand-ing in ways that are individually and collectively valuable, and how they apply that knowledge to their professional practice. Additionally, the study offers insight into the ways in which actions of community leaders and a sponsoring organization support and facilitate value creation through different types of activities, tools and interactions.
- Sociotechnical
Capital and Situated Knowledge in Online Communities of Practice. The Eighth
Annual INGRoup Conference, Atlanta, GA, July 11-13, 2013. Interdisciplinary Network
for Group Research: Using research to advance the understanding of group behavior,
dynamics, and outcomes, Straus, Susan G.; Karam, Rita; Bikson, Tora K.; Byers, Al.
Abstract: Teaching, unlike many other professions, is a largely isolated
occupation in that teachers spend the majority of their work day instructing classes
on their own, with limited time available to interact with their peers and share
and develop knowledge. In urban areas, competing demands on teachers leave little
time to develop a sustaining learning community within a school. In rural areas,
teachers' opportunities to collaborate with colleagues are additionally constrained
by limited numbers of peers and high turnover. We expect that feelings of isolation
are intensified for K-12 science teachers, as their number within a school tends
to be smaller than other content area teachers (e.g., math and language arts), and
there may be few or no colleagues within the same science domain. The need for interaction
and collegiality among science educator peers might, in principle, be met through
attendance at in-person professional society meetings or PD events, but science
teachers report lacking adequate local opportunities for such activity. Online communities
of practice (CoPs) appear to afford promising alternatives for overcoming the absence
of collocated peers in science education. This study explores how web-based collaboration
technologies are used to build distributed communities of practice (CoP) among science
educators. We focus on CoPs among science educators due to increasing national attention
on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, the potential for
web technologies to support teachers who often lack physically co-located colleagues,
and the very limited research on CoPs in this domain. This presentation addresses
how participation in virtual CoP activities leads to the generation of situated
knowledge and sociotechnical capital and factors that are associated with participation
in these communities. Data analysis is in progress.
- Simple
and Computational Heuristics for Forum Management in the NSTA Learning Center: A
Role for Learning Analytics in Online Communities of Practice Supporting Teacher
Learning. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, January, 2012,
Maui, Hawaii. Perez-Lopez, K; Cambridge, D; Byers, A.
Abstract: Prior research has demonstrated that the quality of moderation and management in
online communities of practice is key to their successful support of learning. However,
as communities grow in size and complexity, it becomes increasingly difficult for
unaided experts to fully understand and take action in response to the activity
of participants within them. Learning analytics has the potential to provide the
support that community of practice leaders need to improve their performance. The
National Science Teachers Association and U.S. Department of Education’s Connected
Educators project are exploring three approaches for managing forums to make them
accessible and to synthesize the knowledge they generate: archiving, summarizing,
and reorganizing. This paper describes manual heuristics for the first two of these,
as well as the use of social network analysis to help develop algorithms to automate
the third, community forum reorganization.
- First steps towards a social learning analytics for online communities
of practice for educators. Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2012, Vancouver,
Canada. Cambridge, D., & Perez-Lopez, K.
Abstract: Learning analytics has the potential to provide actionable insights
for managers of online communities of practice. Because the purposes of such communities
and the patterns of activity that might further them are diverse, a wider range
of methods may be needed than in formal educational settings. This paper describes
the proposed learning analytics approach of the U.S. Department of Education's Connected
Online Communities of Practice project, and presents preliminary applications of
social network analysis to the National Science Teachers Association Learning Center
as an illustration. Authors: Cambridge, D., Perez-Lopez, K.
- Developing a Web-Based Mechanism for Assessing Teacher Science Content Knowledge
Journal
of Science Teacher Education, 22 (1), March 2011. Authors: Byers, A.; Koba, S.; Sherman, G.; Scheppke, J.; Bolus, R.
Abstract: The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recently launched
a comprehensive electronic professional development (e-PD) online portal, the NSTA
Learning Center. This support site for educators currently includes over 4,000 e-PD
resources and opportunities available on-demand, as well as various tools designed
to help educators maximize the effectiveness of using NSTA resources. One tool,
the PD Indexer, helps teachers identify their own areas of content strengths and
weaknesses by selecting content-specific assessments. Individual NSTA resources
are recommended based on assessment outcomes. This paper presents a detailed description
of the procedures employed by NSTA to develop valid and reliable PD Indexer content-specific
multiple-choice assessment items. Authors: Byers, A.S., Koba, S., Sherman, G., Scheppke,
J., Bolus, R.
- Electronic portfolios in the professional development of educators. In D'agustino
Steven (Ed.), Adaptation, Resistance, and Access to Instructional Technologies:
Assessing Future Trends in Education (pp. 429-444). Sherman, G., & Byers,
A. (2010).
Abstract: This chapter presents an overview of current electronic portfolio
options available to practicing educators, emphasizing the different roles portfolios
play within the professional development process. Available features within a variety
of free and subscription web-based portfolio services are compared and the use of
specific portfolio options within different professional development environments
such as university graduate programs are profiled. Using a case study-like approach,
the chapter details the use of the National Science Teachers Association’s (NSTA)
Learning Center, a collection of resources available to teachers that includes a
web-based professional development plan and portfolio tool. The chapter concludes
with a reflection on the different ways in which professional organization resources
like the NSTA’s PD Plan and Portfolio Tool can be used in the near future to continually
improve the professional practice of educators.
- Evaluation of online, on-demand science professional development material involving
two different implementation models. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(1), pp.
19-31. 2008. Sherman, G.; Byers, A.; Rapp, S.
Abstract: This report presents pilot-test results for a science professional
development program featuring online, on-demand materials developed by the National
Science Teachers Association. During the spring 2006 semester, 45 middle school
teachers from three different school districts across the United States participated
in a professional development program designed to facilitate content knowledge and
skills in the area of Newtonian force and motion. Participants from one of the school
districts experienced a full-day instructor-led workshop along with two web-based
seminars with a content-area expert. This was followed by a 4-week period of time
in which they had access to self-directed, online, on-demand instructional materials
that included activities, information, simulations, examples, and practice with
immediate feedback over the targeted outcomes. Participants from the two other school
districts only had access to the online materials with no instructor-led experience.
This report documents positive gains in achievement as well as levels of confidence
in teaching the material within all of the professional development groups. Data
about the use of specific features within the online material are included, as well
as completion rates and attitude survey results. Recommendations for future study
are also included. Authors: Sherman, G., Byers, A., Rapp, S.
Report on Outcomes from the Study of a SciPack Deployment in the Houston Independent
School District during School Year 2009-2010.
Survey results indicate that teachers’ sense of efficacy for teaching science increased
over the course of the study, which suggests positive effects of the online professional
development experience. Further, teachers who completed at least two SciPacks significantly
increased their perceived preparedness to teach earth science over the course of
the study. Teachers’ content knowledge of earth science and force and motion was
examined by embedded SciPack final assessments, and pre- and post-assessments. Assessment
scores indicated that teachers significantly increased their content knowledge in
both content areas. Teachers improved their scores over time almost equally for
both earth science and force and motion. Further, treatment teachers achieved higher
gain scores than control teachers in both content areas.
Students of participating teachers did, indeed, improve their performance in earth
science or force and motion. Fifth-grade students in the treatment teachers’ classrooms
scored significantly higher on an earth science assessment than did those in control
teachers’ classrooms, suggesting that the SciPacks had a positive impact on student
performance in earth science. In addition, 6th- and 8th-grade students of treatment
group teachers had gain scores that were significantly larger than the gain scores
of students in control teachers’ classrooms, again suggesting that teacher SciPack
completion had a positive influence on their students’ knowledge of force and motion.
Authors: O’Connor, C. L., Chadwick, K. L., Samanta, D., Gore, J. N.
Summary report and slide presentation highlight the accomplishments and third-party
evaluation findings of the first two years of the IDEA project.
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National Science Foundation: CyberLearning Summit 2016. Designing for Deeper, Broader, and More Equitable Learning, Arlington, VA. Invited Expertise Exchange Panelist: How to share your research with practitioners through NSTA’s channels, June 6, 2016. See: http://circlcenter.org/events/cyberlearning-2016/. Discussed the many avenues through which NSTA may help communicate research findings, such as NSTA conferences, webinars, virtual conferences, NSTA Press journals and books, NSTA Position statements, our NSTA Reports magazine, and the Research Worth Reading summer journal article generated in collaboration between NARST, ASTE, NSELA, and NSTA.
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Insights into Professional Learning Communities and Teacher Learning Online: The NSTA Learning Center. Presentation for the 100K in 10 Partner Summit, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, April 27, 2016. Two day summit focused on sharing strategies and highlighting programs in support of the goal to recruit and train 100,000 highly effective Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Teachers (STEM) in the next 10 years. At five years into the project, nearly 30,000 new STEM teachers have entered the profession. NSTA was invited to share our strategies for building effective blended professional learning networks and communities in partnership with universities and districts for the summit strand titled: Teachers benefit from opportunities to learn from and with each other. We addressed questions such as:
- What is your best methodology for peer-to-peer learning?
- Describe the solution - the tactic, approach, or tool - that you plan to present in your session.
- How do you or your organization use this solution?
- What is one aspect you are looking to improve about this solution?
- What is one aspect of this solution you want feedback on from partners attending your session?
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Blended Professional Learning for Pre-Service and In-Service Science Educators: The NSTA Learning Center. National Science Foundation Online Teacher Professional Development (OTPD) Summit, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, November 15, 2014. Two day summit focused on reviewing proposed Harvard Press book chapters from leading scholars on current and emerging models for OTPD that address effectiveness, scale and sustainability. The NSTA Learning Center is one invited chapter for review. Chapters are reviewed against specific protocols and framework. Byers, A., and Mendez, F.
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Developing Large Scale Effective Online Teacher Learning Communities at the National Science Teachers Association. Ninth Annual International Conference on Networked Learning, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, March 2-8, 2014. Invited "Hot Seat" online expert panelists: Byers, A. Mendez, F.
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A Tool to Develop Science Pre-service Teachers. Association of Science Teacher Educators Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas, January 17, 2014. Two hour panel and hands-on workshop. Byers, A., and Mendez, F. ,NSTA; Baird, K., Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus; Blunk, S., University of Maryland Baltimore County; Mohr, C., Dominican University; Odell, M., University of Texas at Tyler; Sparrow, K., Florida International University; Veal, W., College of Charleston.
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Making it Count-Integrating
Formal and Informal PD. US Department of Education Connected Educators Month (CEM)
Invited Kickoff Panel.
October 2, 2013. The Archive of the live web seminar session is available from
CEM web site.
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Developing Large Scale Effective
STEM Teacher Learning Communities at the National Science Teachers Association.
Invited Closing Keynote for online GlobalSTEMx Conference sponsored by Hewlett Packard.
The Archives
of this and all the web seminar sessions are available from the GlobalSTEMxCon web site.
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Developing Large Scale Effective
Teacher Learning Communities at the National Science Teachers Association.
ISTE, San Antonio, Texas, June 24, 2013. Invited speaker: Byers, A.
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Blending Online and Onsite Professional
Development: Applying What the Research Says for Effective and Sustainable Learning
Communities
Virginia Science Education Leadership Association, Williamsburg, Virginia, November
7, 2012. Invited Keynote: Byers, A.
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Directed Online Teacher Professional
Development: Applying the Research for Effective and Scalable Learning Communities
Educational Technology Leadership Conference, Roanoke, Virginia, November 5, 2012.
Invited Spotlight Session Keynote: Byers, A.
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Digital Resources to Support Science Instruction
National Association for Research in Science Teaching, National Conference Symposium,
Indianapolis, Indiana, March, 2012. Milne, C.; Schwartz, R; Recker, M.; Byers, A.;
Dorsey, C.; Reichsman, F.; Goldenberg, L.; Sicker, T.; Anderson, A.; Pasquale, M.;
Wiebe, E.
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Social Network Analysis of Affiliation Networks to Promote Online
Communities of Practice for Science Education
International Network for Social Network Analysis, Sunbelt XXXII Social Networks
Conference, 2012, San Diego, California, March, 2012. Perez-Lopez, K.; Cambridge,
D.; Byers, A.; Booth, S.
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Blending Onsite and Online Professional Development: Applying the
Research for Effective and Scalable Learning Communities
National Science Education Leadership Association, Professional Development Institute,
Indianapolis, Indiana, March, 2012. Byers, A.; Mendez, F.; Nickerson, L.A.; Le,
D.
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Research Insights into Online Communities of Practice and Teacher
Learning Online: The NSTA Learning Center
National Science Teachers Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, March, 2012. Byers, A.; Cambridge, D.; Sherman, G
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The NSTA Learning Center: A Tool to Develop Preservice Teachers
National Science Teachers Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, March, 2012. Byers,
A.; Mendez, F.; Mohr, C.; Bailey, B.; Odell, M.
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Online Communities of Practice: What Works?
Florida Education Technology Conference, Orlando, Florida, January, 2012. Invited
Panelist: George, M.; Beach-Nussbaum, S.; Byers, A.; Levy, A.; Mageau, T.
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Online Professional
Development: Applying What the Research Says for Effective Learning
Next Step Institute ─ Navigating the Landscape of STEM. Dover, DE. May 2011. Invited
presenter: Byers, A.
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Online Professional
Development: Research on Teacher Perceptions, Learning Preferences, and Learning
Outcomes for Self-directed NSTA Web Courses
National Science Teachers Association, National Conference, San Francisco, CA. March,
2010. Presenters: Byers, A., Chadwick, K., Sherman, G.
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The NSTA Learning
Center: A Tool to Develop Preservice Teachers
National Science Teachers Association, National Conference, San Francisco, CA. March,
2011. Presenters: Byers, A., Sherman, G., Bailey, B., Odell, M.
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Online Professional
Development: Applying what the research says for Effective Learning
National Science Teachers Association, National Conference, Research Development
Conference, San Francisco, CA. March, 2011. Presenters: Byers, A., Sherman, G.,
Chadwick, K., Mendez, F.
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Developing Online Learning Communities
at Scale
National Science Foundation-sponsored STEM Summit, Longwood University, Farmville,
VA. February, 2011. Invited Presenter: Byers, A.
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Building Scalable and Sustainable Learning Centers
Always Learning Web Seminar Series with host Bryan Chapman. July, 2010. Online Archive. Invited presenter: Byers, A.
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