Innovative Uses of IT Applications in STEM Classrooms: A Preliminary Review of ITEST Teacher Professional Development

Published: 
Apr. 15, 2010

Source: Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, Volume 18, Issue 2, April 2010, pp. 203-230.

In this article, the authors were interested to examine how innovative information technology (IT) classroom applications are integrated into teacher professional development.

The authors conducted an exploratory study of The National Science Foundation (NSF) -funded Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) projects.

The authors addressed the following questions in this study:
•How are ITEST projects using information technologies?
•How do ITEST project principal investigators (PIs) conceptualize their professional development models?
•How do ITEST project PIs measure the impact of their professional development model on teacher change?

The authors found that these projects reflect many characteristics of effective practices for STEM teacher professional development commonly identified in the literature.
The projects also share practices not always found in STEM professional development, including the involvement of youth in the active learning process and an emphasis on STEM career connections with both teachers and students.
These projects constitute a unique and potentially useful study group because of the similarities in their approach to technology integration and professional development.

Updated: Feb. 08, 2012
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