Evaluation of large-scale professional development programmes in a cost-effective but detailed manner presents challenges. Much of the research evidence on the effectiveness of professional development in science education has been the result of small-scale studies that use clustered or stratified sampling methods. Using the evidence collected…

The United States is facing a crisis in terms of meeting demands for a highly skilled technical workforce. Workforce preparation must begin in primary and secondary educational settings. Teachers are perfectly positioned to increase student awareness of and interest in careers in engineering and technology; unfortunately, they are often not well…

Establishing literacy in science is often linked to building knowledge about the Nature of Science (NOS). This paper describes and evaluates an inservice program designed to build elementary teachers' understanding of NOS and an awareness of how NOS impacts science classroom instruction. Data sources consisted of surveys, action research plan…

A curriculum innovation requires new learning material for students and a preparation program for teachers, in which teacher learning is a key ingredient. In this paper we describe how three experienced teachers, involved in the development and subsequent classroom enactment of student learning material for context-based chemistry education,…

The present article addresses how lesson study can facilitate changing traditional norms of individualism, conservatism and presentism that constrain American teachers from learning from one another. The article investigates how lesson study can serve as a vehicle for developing teacher learning communities by developing or redeveloping teachers'…

There are concerns that the effective use of interactive whiteboard technology is being inhibited by its use only as a means of presentation. This article looks at the way in which a working group drawn from the university and school areas of mathematics teaching developed materials to enhance the pedagogic use of interactive whiteboard…

This qualitative study examines one professional development program and how this experience affects teachers' thoughts about planning and science teaching practices specific to the elements focused on during the program. The program supports 13 American K-12 teachers, selected from across the nation, to spend six weeks with a mentor scientist in…

In this study, five elementary teachers and a university researcher developed and implemented problem-based learning (PBL) experiences in the context of science teaching and learning. Collaborative inquiry was adopted as a methodology, while a variety of qualitative methods were used to examine the engagement and development of teachers'…

During the 2004-05 school year, the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education conducted a study entitled "Building Academic Skills in Context: Testing the Value of Enhanced Math Learning in Career and Technical Education," commonly referred to as the Math-in-CTE study. This was a random-assignment experiment that tested the…