Creating Coherence: How Developing an Observation Protocol Clarified and Aligned Our Thinking
Abstract
"The NRC's Frameworks requires educators to rethink instruction and professional development using the lens of crosscutting concepts. The Boston Energy in Science Teaching project initiated a study of professional development and its impact on instruction and student learning using the cross-cutting concept of energy. The project team developed an observation protocol to document teachers' integration of energy concepts into their instruction, as well as missed opportunities. The development process revealed larger issues around language, depth and breadth of shared understandings relating to the concept of energy and how to teach it. This presentation will discuss how lessons learned shaped the protocol, clarified our thinking, and how they may help future efforts to incorporate other crosscutting concepts into instruction."
