An Examination of Teacher Understanding of Project Based Science as a Result of Participating in an Extended Professional Development Program: Implications for Implementation

Abstract

Project-based science (PBS) aligns with national standards that assert children should learn science by actively engaging in the practices of science. Understanding and implementing PBS requires a shift in teaching practices away from one that covers primarily content to one that prompts children to conduct investigations. A common challenge to PBS implementation is a misunderstanding of the elements of PBS. Identification of these misunderstandings as well as implementation challenges could inform professional development. This case study examined 24 teachers' understanding and implementation of PBS during participation in a consecutive three-year, comprehensive professional development program. Results provide insight as to the process they followed in the transition to implementing PBS. Measures included classroom observations, reflective interviews, and attitudinal surveys. Results showed that teachers developed the knowledge, confidence, and understanding to implement PBS but in most cases it took at least two to three years for positive results to become evident. Teachers struggled to develop adequate driving questions that provided projectfocused lessons. Other obstacles included teacher resistance to student-directed instruction, confusing inquiry-based instruction with hands-on activities, and inability to motivate students to work in collaborative teams. While challenging, over time the teachers developed the knowledge, desire, and skills to implement PBS.

Project-based learning in integrated science education: Active teachers’ perceptions and practices

“…The structural challenges reported in this and earlier studies (e.g. Mentzer et al, 2017) are hindering schools and teachers' efforts to implement PBL in integrated science education and should, therefore, be taken into account on a national level, when reforming curriculum or standards recommending integrated approaches such as PBL. Teachers can partly overcome the challenges relating to facilitating PBL with more experience and a deeper understanding of the PBL method.…”

“…Teachers' practices and professional competence for implementing PBL have an effect on the challenges teachers face while implementing PBL. Major challenges, according to this study, are facilitating PBL and the lack of time (similar to Mentzer et al, 2017). Often teachers referred as a challenge the planning time with colleagues or the timeconsuming nature of project work in general.…”

“…The results could be taken carefully into account in preparing teacher education for pre-service and in-service teachers. Without adequate attention to ways of supporting teachers, these innovative educational approaches will not be widely adopted (Blumenfeld et al, 1991;Mentzer et al, 2017). Integrated approaches such as PBL also require substantial changes in teachers' thinking about and dispositions toward classroom structures, activities, and tasks (Han et al, 2015).…”

“…Researchers have identified common implementation challenges that relate to the design principles of PBL. These include teachers' knowledge, skills and attitude related issues such as (1) teachers' resistance to student-centred learning, (2) confusing inquiry-based instruction with hands-on activities, (3) inability to motivate students to work in collaborative teams, (4) scaffolding instruction, and (5) the development of authentic assessment (Condliffe et al, 2017;Mentzer et al, 2017;. Furthermore, melding required curriculum with PBL is one of the most important but difficult aspects of designing a project-based approach (Condliffe et al, 2017).…”

“…Furthermore, melding required curriculum with PBL is one of the most important but difficult aspects of designing a project-based approach (Condliffe et al, 2017). Other challenges relate to students' resistance to employing critical thinking (Mentzer et al, 2017), unsatisfactory group working (Condliffe et al, 2017), lack of motivation (Condliffe et al, 2017;Marshall et al, 2010) and readiness for studentcentred approaches in integrated science education (Han et al, 2015). In addition, teachers struggle with time constraints and inadequacy of resources to support indepth student investigations needed for constructing knowledge (Condliffe et al, 2017;.…”