MUTUALISTIC PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: BUILDING A COLLABORATIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCE THROUGH CO-TEACHING (Invited Presentation)

The Teacher Academy in the Natural Sciences (TANS) provided intensive discipline-specific instruction in geosciences, chemistry, and physics. Within geosciences, two university professors (geologist, climatologist) instructed Mississippi middle school teachers of science (grades 6-8) from 2010 through 2013 (n = 17, 19, 17). TANS incorporated active-learning strategies, performance tasks, and computer-based instruction within an intensive 10 day summer academy, 3 academic instruction days, and two online geoscience content modules (ocean basins/weather; plate tectonics).

The co-teaching requirement was a unique component of the program. University scientists collaborated with each TANS teacher to create a classroom lesson, and then scientists traveled to the middle teacher’s classroom to co-deliver the content and activities to the middle school students. Throughout the 3-year program, 128 classrooms were impacted with topic instruction that included plate tectonics, weather and climate, and rocks and minerals. Data gathered included co-teaching reports, program surveys, and the concluding TANS survey. Content analysis of responses revealed two stable themes: 1) co-teaching was beneficial for classroom instruction and learning; and 2) co-teaching positively affected students’ beliefs. Analyses also revealed that university professors and middle school teachers gained from the co-teaching experience. Both acquired an understanding and appreciation for the science teaching style of the other.

Analysis of scientists’ responses documented that professors had an “eye-opener” and learned about protocol and time constraints affecting middle level classrooms. Scientists also remarked that the co-teaching directly led to changes in their university courses. The positive reception of active-learning tasks and the need for real-world examples by middle school students influenced greater inclusion of these in subsequent college classrooms. Middle level teachers selected co-teaching as one of the most productive experiences of the TANS program. They noted co-teaching increased their confidence and illustrated alternative methods for teaching science.