Videocases for Science Teaching Analysis (ViSTA)

Dr. George O’Brien, Instructor, SCE 4310PLANTS MODULE

Fall, 2012

ViSTA Staff

Technology: Brian Wenger, Rhiannon BaxterCoordinator: Jon AdamsCommunications: Dayna GarlandProducts and Services: Paul Numedahl

Purposes of Slide Presentation

• To introduce the features and content of the ViSTA Plants module

• To explore ideas about how to maximize preservice teacher learning from the module

• To get you excited about using the module!

Agenda for Slide Presentation

• Opening–ViSTA Project and research results–Overview and exploration of the module

navigation and technology• Experience Plants module • Review other components of the module

Research and Theoretical Background

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Effective Programs for Teacher Learning

• Engage teachers in collaborative, practice-based inquiries (analysis-of-practice);

• Focus on teachers’ subject matter learning as central and intertwined with pedagogy;

• Enable teachers to see these issues embedded in real classroom contexts; and

• Focus on the subject matter and curriculum teachers are teaching

Research points toteachers’ science content needs

• Elementary teachers’ limited background in science, weak science knowledge, and discomfort with learning and teaching science is well documented.

• Secondary teachers’ fragmented and compartmentalized understandings, limited with respect to the organizing concepts and principles of the discipline is well documented.

Videocases enable deeper analysis of practice

• Observers can slow down the teaching process, reviewing video clips several times

• Analyses can be more evidence-based

• Video provides a common teaching situation for collaborative analysis and development of a shared image-based language

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Student Thinking Lens

• Knowledge about students’ ideas, experiences, misconceptions, difficulties in understanding key ideas, and ways of thinking in specific science content domains

• Knowledge about strategies for building on students’ ideas and addressing common student difficulties with specific science ideas

Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Science Content Storyline

• Knowledge about how to organize science content for teaching– Selecting key ideas and activities– Sequencing, linking science ideas to one

another– Sequencing, linking science ideas to activities– Organizing ideas and activities to construct a

coherent “story” that makes sense to students

TIMSS Video Study results: Content storylines

30 50

24

65

44

1227

58

50

70

3027

6‡8

0

20

40

60

80

100

AUS CZE JPN NLD USACountry

Percent of lessons Doing activities withno content

Learning contentwith weak or noconceptual linksLearning contentwith strongconceptual links

ViSTA Conceptual Framework

• What should preservice teachers be analyzing as they look at videocases of science teaching?

• What should be the “content” of a videocase-based teacher learning program?

ViSTA Theoretical Framework

• Situated cognition

• Cognitive apprenticeship

• Conceptual change

Features of the ViSTA Modules • 5 online videocase modules designed for use in

elementary science methods courses

• Videocases feature K-8 science lessons about electricity, force and motion, plants (grades 1 & 5), water cycle, and scientific inquiry

• Videocases include lesson videos, videos of teacher and student interviews, student work, student pre-post tests, teacher lesson plans

• Preservice teachers’ interactions with the videocases are guided and structured by tasks and by their course instructors.

ViSTA Teachers and Analysis Tasks

• Teachers selected because of their efforts to make student thinking and the science content storyline visible in their teaching

• Analysis tasks and video clips selected for their potential to challenge preservice teachers’ thinking and learning

• Teachers and tasks were NOT selected to present model examples of effective teaching for preservice teachers to copy

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Summary: Ideas from research built into the ViSTA Modules

• Module content:– Science content knowledge– Pedagogical content knowledge: Student thinking– Pedagogical content knowledge: Science content

storyline• Module theoretical base:

– Situated cognition – Cognitive apprenticeship– Conceptual change

• Module structure:– Analysis-of-practice using structured videocases

ViSTA Research: Design

• Experimental group: Preservice teachers enrolled in methods courses with experienced ViSTA instructors, using either the Electricity or the Plants module (N = 33 instructors)

• Control group: Preservice teachers enrolled in methods courses in which no ViSTA module is being used (N = 9 instructors, from same universities as Experimental group).

• Quantitative measures for teacher ability to analyze practice, teacher PCK (ST/SCS Lenses), and teacher CK

ViSTA Research: Results

After adjusting for entering abilities,preservice teachers using ViSTA modules• outperformed their comparison peers on

science content knowledge• outperformed their comparison peers on

all measures of lesson analysis abilities, measured in 3 scores: content, student thinking, and science content storyline

Structure of ViSTA Modules Technology

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ViSTA An Overview

• Demonstration of module

• Explore module features

ViSTAAn Overview

Inquiry Instructor Guide – site for teacher educators to

– view the entire module,– see suggested teaching strategies, and – access exemplary responses to tasks

Inquiry – site for – preservice teachers to complete their work– teacher educators to view preservice teacher

responses and give feedback 23

ViSTAModule Structure: Folders

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Folders

ViSTAModule Structure: Navigation Tree

o Main Menu – left side navigation pane

Folders – bulleted items in the main menu

Tasks – series of learning experiences- Pre and Posttests- Readings- Video analysis- Analysis of student work- Questions

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ViSTAInstructor Guide Site

1. Instructor guide -- along the right side of page

• Goals• Frame• Teaching Strategy

2. Easy access to exemplary answers

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ViSTAPreservice Teacher Site

• View task “activity”

• Provide feedback to preservice teachers on completed tasks

• View preservice teachers’ comments on feedback

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ViSTA Explore Module Features

Do the following:1. Find a master list of all videos included in the module.2. Find the suggested teaching strategy for Task 15.3. Find the Task where preservice teachers. examine

science standards documents.4. Find the Folder that provides information on the

videocase teachers and lessons.5. View the exemplary response for Task 4.1 from the

student site.6. Provide feedback on a colleague’s exemplary response

from Task 4.1.

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ViSTA Help Resources

For technical help with ViSTA:

- See ViSTA user guide (binder front matter)- Contact support@bscs.org

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5415 Mark Dabling BlvdColorado Springs, Colorado 80918

E: info@bscs.org W: www.bscs.org P: 719.531.5550 30