RiSE Colloquium – Nicole Gillespie – April 1
Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center)
University of Maine, Orono, Maine
Presents
Nicole Gillespie, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Knowles Science Teaching Foundation
Inquiry and Teacher Professional Development: Lessons Learned
from the KSTF Teaching Fellowship Program
Recent work argues that professional development intended to develop teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) must be tightly connected with teacher practice (Van Driel & Berry, 2010). Professional development for beginning secondary mathematics and science teachers at the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) involves collaboratively studying a concept and how to teach it. This modified lesson study work situates teacher learning at the intersection of science or mathematics content knowledge, pedagogy and individual classroom practice. In this presentation, I will share KSTF’s practices and lessons learned for two parallel strands of inquiry: beginning science and mathematics teachers’ collaborative inquiry into their own teaching through lesson study, and the fellowship staff’s inquiry into our practice of facilitating and supporting this work. I will conclude with a synthesis of what KSTS has learned about practitioner inquiry more broadly by engaging in this collaborative process.
Bio:
As the Executive Director of the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, Dr. Nicole Gillespie leads KSTF in its efforts to strengthen the teaching profession and improve the state of US STEM education. Nicole previously directed the KSTF Teaching Fellowship, the foundation’s signature program that supports Teaching Fellows in the fields of biology, physical science and mathematics education nationwide. She joined KSTF in 2004 and has helped develop several of the foundation’s key initiatives, including its Research and Evaluation Program and Alumni Program.
Monday, April 1, 2013
3:00 pm
Arthur St. John Hill Auditorium
Room 165, Engineering and Science Research Building
Refreshments will be served in the ESRB Lobby at 2:45 pm