Professional Learning in Elementary STEM Education

Catalog description

This course focuses broadly on teacher learning. Specifically, we examine research, development, and findings on the design and outcomes of professional learning experiences (PLEs), often called "professional development," for practicing teachers. The course is designed for graduate students to develop as critical readers, analytical writers, and participants in discussion of intellectual ideas centered around the following: (1) the theoretical and empirical foundations of the research literature related to teacher learning; (2) various approaches to the study of teachers' professional learning; (3) different sets of recommendations for what makes PLEs "effective"; and (4) evaluation methods for the impact of PLEs.