Progress 12/01/20 to 11/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:Ongoing disruptions due to COVID-19 What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate students continued to work with the PI on data analysis and writing. One undergraduate presesnted a poster at a national conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?One conference poster presentation. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We took a No-Cost extension for 2021 to try to solicit more teachers from interviews and continue work on publications. However, given ongoing disruptions to classrooms in 2020-21 school year, we did not obtain any additional interviews. We continued work on data analysis and publication preparation.
Publications
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Progress 12/01/16 to 11/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:High school teachers of science and agriculture related to invasive species in Florida. In year 1, we recruited 8 teacher pairs (16 teachers) as planned, from 7 counties in Florida for our Summer 2017 workshop; 15 attended. In 2018, we had fewer applications than 2017. Teachers also reported difficulties in finding a partner to bring from their school or district. Therefore, we ran the workshop with 10 high school teachers of biology, ecology, and agriculture who may or may not have had partners from their area. Due to the lower than expected number of participants in 2018, we had funds remaining and conducted a third workshop in 2019 with 11 teachers, prioritizing teachers from different school districts than previous participants. Teachers taught students in grades 9-12 and topics from introductory biology to AP/IB Environmental Science, as well as chemistry and agriscience. They included teachers with less than 5 years' experience up through approximately 20 years' experience. In total, we had 36 participants over 3 years. Changes/Problems:We had planned to have an assessment co-design workshop at the beginning of the semester, working with the teachers to come up with common questions on invasive species knowledge as well as particular assessments for their individual lessons. Hurricane Irma interrupted the timing of these workshops and further threw several school years into disarray. We are asking teachers to collect whatever data from their student activities they can if they are already implementing their lessons. We are planning to hold the assessment design workshop in the early part of 2018 for the remaining teachers. Also, had a personnel change, Katherine Walters has been replaced by Dehlia Albrecht; the position and role is the same, but Ms. Walters left UF between the proposal and the award. Due to low completion rates for 2017 teachers and low application rates in 2018, we ran a third workshop in 2019. We suspect the issues with both completion and application had to do with the impacts of Hurricane Irma in late 2017 (the 17-18 school year). In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted teacher implementation especially for 2019 workshop attendees. We helped some teachers pivot and redesign their lessons further. We continued to collect what data we could from teachers to capture their experience. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A 2.5-day, 20-hour workshop for 16 high school teachers on invasive species ecology, local invasive species problems, ongoing invasive species research, curriculum co-design, and student assessment. Five graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from agronomy and two from agricultural education were co-presenters and experts in their respective disciplines for the workshop. Six undergraduate students have been assisting with the workshop implementation, data collection, analysis, and writing in various ways. One graduate student from science education has assisted with teacher interview analysis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We shared preliminary teacher results at the 2019 Western Association for Agricultural Education research conference in September 2019. We shared preliminary teacher personal meaning map data analysis at the 2021 National Association for Agricultural Education Conference in May 2021. The PI continues to share the design of the workshop with colleagues at UF and beyond informally. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. We interviewed teachers from a previous content-focused research. Using this feedback and best practices from education research, we designed and implemented a 2.5-day workshop for 36 high school teachers over 3 years, incorporating authentic research and local invasive species problems. Teachers redesigned existing curricula on invasive species to include these topics and activities. Analysis of teacher evaluation data is ongoing. 2. We intereviewed 24 teachers who had implemented their revised lessons, including 6 who experienced significant school year disruptions due to hurricanes, a school shooting, and COVID-19. Some teachers provided student pre-post data in the form of meaning maps (2017 workshop) and surveys (2018 workshop). However, we were unable to collect student data from 2019 teachers due to disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. 3. We have presented 2 conference papers on our research: one on teacher interviews, and one on the teacher pre-post meaning maps. A research paper on the teacher interviews is nearing journal submission. A second paper focusing on the teachers who were disrupted in implementation is in draft, as are papers on the teacher pre-post meaning maps and the pre-post curriculum design knowledge quantitative data.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Schmidt, A., and Stofer, K. Collaborative Professional Development Improves High School Teachers' Knowledge of Invasive Species Ecology. Poster presented at the American Association for Agricultural Education National Conference. May 27, 2021. Online.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Stofer, K.A., Flory, S. L., Albrecht, D. , Hall, R., Watts, J. V., Fahey, C., Keel, J. H., Petri, T., Kendig, A. E. (2022). Collaborative Professional Development on Contemporary Science May Reduce Barriers to Implementation in High School Classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. Submitted.
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Progress 12/01/19 to 11/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:We did not host any teacher professional development activiites in 2020, as the workshops ended in 2019. We were only conducting followup evaluation with our high school teachers who attended the workshops previously Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many of our teachers, but we did not make any major changes to data collection or analysis other than slowing down due to ongoing disruption. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PI continued to mentor undergraduate researchers both in qualitative analysis and statistical analysis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In 2021, we will continue to work to publish all the data. Currently, we have 4 publications in progress: one on the teacher interviews for all teachers, one specifically on teachers who had their implementation disrupted due to natural or human-made disasters, one on the teacher personal meaning maps, and one on the quantitiative data on curriculum design knowledge.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Completed in 2019, with the exceptions of helping a few teachers who reached out to pivot or revise their lessons to fit pandemic-related teaching constraints. 2. Teachers who had completed workshops continued to implement revised lessons in their classrooms. From the teacher post-workshop interviews we were able to conduct, given the pandemic, the students were still successful in learning about invasive species knowledge and practices. 3. We continued to collect post-workshop interviews with teachers, especially those who completed the workshop in 2019. We did speak to several teachers who were either in the process of or were planning to implement after March 2020 who therefore had their plans significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We continued qualitative analysis of the interviews and personal meaning maps. We also continued to analyze the quantitative data collected from evaluations and began comparisons to workshops which did not feature co-design.
Publications
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Progress 12/01/18 to 11/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:In 2019, we ran another workshop given lower enrollment in previous years and other budgetary allowances. We ran the workshop with 11 high school teachers of biology, ecology, and chemistry, primarily from counties and districts who had not previously had teachers attend. They will be teaching their respective high school classes this school year.Teachers from the 2017 and 2018 workshop were also presenting lessons to their classes during this reporting period, and we collected some data from those students. However, not all of the workshop teachers completed the followup or shared their data with us. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Graduate students and postdocs from agronomy and agricultural education were co-presenters and experts in theirrespective disciplines for the workshop. Multiple undergraduate students have been assisting with the workshop implementation, data collection, and analysis in various ways. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We shared preliminary teacher results at the 2019 Western Association for Agricultural Education research conference in September 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is a no-cost extension year; we are wrapping up data collection activities as teachers present during this school year. We will continue evaluation activities and comparative research.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Presented a third instance of the professional development workshop 2. Teachers from 2018 began presenting lessons to their students. Collected pre-post meaning maps from students. 3. Conducted followup interviews with teachers from the 2018 workshop. Began analyzing teacher interviews and pre-post meaning maps on invasive species knowledge as well as teacher quantitative data.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Stofer, K. A. & Watts, J. V. (2019). Collaborative Curriculum Design on Local Invasive Species Alleviates Barriers to Implementation of Authentic Science Experiences in High School Classrooms. Western Region of the American Association for Agricultural Education. Anchorage, AK. Sept. 18, 2019.
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Progress 12/01/17 to 11/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:In 2018, we had fewer applications than 2017. Teachers also reported difficulties in finding a partner to bring from their school or district. Therefore, we ran the workshop with 10 high school teachers of biology, ecology, and agriculture. They will be teaching their respective high school classes this school year. Teachers from the 2017 workshop were also presenting lessons to their classes during this reporting period, and we collected some data from those students. However, not all of the 15 workshop teachers completed the followup or shared their data with us. Changes/Problems:Due to low completion rates for 2017 teachers and low application rates in 2018, we will run a third workshop in 2019. We suspect the issues with both completion and application had to do with the impacts of Hurricane Irma in late 2017 (the 17-18 school year). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three graduate students from agronomy and one from agricultural education were co-presenters and experts in their respective disciplines for the workshop. Six undergraduate students have been assisting with the workshop implementation, data collection, and analysis in various ways. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Teacher results will be submitted to the 2019 Association for Agricultural Education research conference in January 2019. Student data will be analyzed as it comes in throughout the 2018-19 school year and presented likely in 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. We have a significant amount of funding left to support teachers for the workshop, so we plan to run a third instance with 10 teachers in summer 2019. 2. 2018 teachers will continue to teach their students, and we will collect that data through May/June 2019. 2019 teachers will teach students in school year 19-20 3. 2018 and 2019 teachers will continue to be interviewed as they complete their lesson implementations through May/June 2020.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Presented the second instance of the professional development workshop 2. Teachers from 2017 began presenting lessons to their students. However, implementation was significantly impacted by Hurricanes Irma hitting Florida in late 2017. Collected pre-post meaning maps from students in some classes. 3. Conducted followup interviews with teachers from the 2017 workshop. Began analyzing teacher interviews and pre-post meaning maps on invasive species knowledge.
Publications
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Progress 12/01/16 to 11/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:We recruited 8 teacher pairs (16 teachers) as planned, from 7 counties in Florida for our Summer 2017 workshop. 1 teacher had a last-minute emergency, so we proceeded with 15 high-school teachers. They covered students in grades 9-12 and topics from introductory biology to AP/IB Environmental Science. They included teachers with less than 5 years' experience up through approximately 20 years' experience. Changes/Problems:We had planned to have an assessment co-design workshop at the beginning of the semester, working with the teachers to come up with common questions on invasive species knowledge as well as particular assessments for their individual lessons. Hurricane Irma interrupted the timing of these workshops and further threw several school years into disarray. We are asking teachers to collect whatever data fromtheir student activities they canif they are already implementing their lessons. We are planning to hold the assessment design workshop in the early part of 2018 for the remaining teachers. Also, we have had a personnel change that has been approved by the University but has not yet made it into REEPort: Katherine Walters has been replaced by Dehlia Albrecht; the position and role is the same, but Ms. Walters left UF between the proposal and the award. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A 2.5-day, 20-hour workshop for 16 high school teachers on invasive species ecology, local invasive species problems, ongoing invasive species research, curriculum co-design, and student assessment. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Revise and present the second teacher professional development workshop. Continue teacher research on barriers to implementation of curricula after professional development, including conducting further interviews and presenting and publishing results. Continue research on student learning on invasive species, including presenting and publishing results.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. We designed and implemented a 2.5-day workshop for 16 high school teachers incorporating authentic research and local invasive species problems. Teachers redesigned existing curricula on invasive species to include these topics and activities. Analysis of teacher evaluation data is ongoing. 2. Several teachers have implemented their lessons this fall. Collection of student evaluation data is ongoing. 3. We implemented the first iteration of the workshop in Summer 2017. We are redesigning the workshop based on teacher feedback and will present iteration 2 in Summer 2018. Research is ongoing.
Publications
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