Publications

List of publications

Learning Landscapes Paper

Grants

US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: MATHEMATICS SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE IN SCIENCE, Washington, DC

Project Title: "Developing a Cadre of Teacher-Leaders in Elementary & Middle School Science"

Amount of Funding: $306,000 ($102,000 each year up to a maximum of 3 years)

Funding Period:

• Year 1: January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009
• Year 2: July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010
• Year 3: July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011

Authors: F. McDonnell & D. Burgess

* This competitive grant award assisted teachers in implementing key elements of the inquiry learning cycle into their teaching of science and into their mentoring of a colleague. The project involved teachers from nine New Hampshire school districts.

• Year 1 introduced k-8 teachers to the Inquiry Learning Cycle in Science and an inquiry-based mentoring model.
• Year 2 teachers developed and taught a standards-based, inquiry-based curriculum unit, and gather data on student learning. Teachers subsequently presented their teacher-research studies to peers and a regional science-teacher conference.
• Year 3 teachers engaged in collaborative assessment of student work products, in which students designed investigations to explore questions of interest. Teachers also shared video tapes of their classroom with peers to enhance their individual and collective understanding of inquiry and their ability to engage K-12 students in authentic scientific inquiry.

  Mentoring

Project Title: "Teacher Inquiry, Student Learning"

Amount of Funding: $70,000

Funding Period: January 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008

Authors: F. McDonnell & D. Burgess

* This project examined the influence of teachers' experiences with authentic inquiry-based learning on their Science Content Knowledge and their Pedagogical Content Knowledge in science. The project involved 29 teachers drawn from the elementary and middle grades.

• Teachers developed and utilized Science Performance Tasks to assess and support student understanding of scientific concepts and develop their abilities to engage students in scientific inquiry.
• Teachers participated in a 3-day summer workshop that engaged them in open inquiry experiences.
• During the following school year teachers met to examine student work generated by inquiry experiences they created.
• Pre- and post-tests assessed changes in teachers' science content knowledge. Interview-about-instances, journal prompts and free-writes probed teachers' awareness of student ideas in science.

* An invitation from the 2007-2008 grant.

Project Title: "Enhancing Teacher Knowledge of Inquiry, Embedded Assessment, and Concepts in Physical Science"

Amount of Funding: $10,000

Funding Period: April 2006 - August 2007

Authors: F. McDonnell & D. Burgess

* Utilized innovative inquiry-based physics curriculum to promote teachers' understandings of fundamental concepts in physics and chemistry, inquiry pedagogy and embedded assessment. Analyses examined how teachers' own experiences in the role of learner with published curriculum designed for high school science students help them understand how inquiry can be used in classroom.

NH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT GRANT [TITLE II FUNDS], Concord, NH

Project Title: "Meeting the Need: Retaining High Quality Teachers in Mathematics and Science"

Amount of Funding: $25,000

Funding Period: September 2004 - April 2005

Author: F. McDonnell

* This project engaged classroom teachers in scientific inquiry to promote their scientific content knowledge.

NHHEAF: NETWORK EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION- PLANNING GRANT

Project Title: "IGNITES: Inspiring and Growing Natural Interests and Talents in Education for Science"

* Collaborated with faculty and staff from Rivier College and Daniel Webster College to develop a grant aimed at inspiring middle school students' interest in science.