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Since "A Nation at Risk" was released in the 1980s, standards-based reform has been the most dominant trend in American educational policy, and the No Child Left Behind Act pushed the trend further by requiring states to develop rigorous curriculum standards. Though much has been said about these new standards, less has been said about whether or how well professional development helps teachers link their instruction to these standards. This study examined the impact of a professional development program for K-12 science teachers in helping teachers meet state curriculum standards. Seventy-five science teachers in Michigan participated in a 2-week summer workshop that used Problem-Based Learning for improving teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Researchers surveyed participating teachers about the change of teachers' preparedness for standards-based teaching, their expectations to meet state curriculum standards, and whether their expectations were met. In addition, the usefulness of workshop activities was examined. Data analysis showed that to align teaching with state curriculum standards, participating teachers expected to learn instructional strategies and enhance science content knowledge through professional development, and by and large their expectations were well met. Collaboration with colleagues and facilitators helped teachers achieve their goals in terms of teaching within state curriculum standards. These findings have important implications for designing professional development to help teachers align instruction with curriculum standards.

Although researchers have reported positive effects on teacher learning from observing published video, teachers' own video, and their colleagues' video, very few professional development programs have integrated all three types of video to improve teacher learning. In this study, we examined the affordances and challenges of the three types of video when they were used in a Problem-Based Learning professional development program, drawing upon multiple data sources from 26 K-12 science teachers. We present a case study to illustrate how one teacher might learn from each type of video, and conclude with recommendations for using video in professional development. (Contains 2 tables.)

Engaging teachers in discussing and analyzing problems of practice has great potential for teacher professional development, yet little is known about how to facilitate such discussion. This study examined the strategies that experienced facilitators used to promote productive discussion among science teachers. Participants were 6 facilitators and 35 in-service teachers who participated in a professional development program that adopted a problem-based learning approach for teacher learning. Data analysis showed that experienced facilitators used a variety of strategies in their facilitation, including questioning, revoicing, making connections, clarifying, reframing, summarizing, role playing, meta-talk, and modeling. In particular, questioning and revoicing were the most important strategies in all sessions studied, accounting for about half of the facilitators' talk. Analysis further revealed both productive and disruptive characteristics of questioning and revoicing. In addition, analysis found that teachers were able to make progress in participating in the problem-based learning discourse in different ways. This study has implications for research on teacher professional development, problem-based learning, and learner-centered instruction. (Contains 7 tables.)

Previous research has shown that questioning is a key strategy that facilitators use to promote discussion in Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Yet, there is a lack of detailed understanding on what questions facilitators ask and how those questions affect discussion. In this study we examined different types of questions that experienced facilitators asked to promote discussion of teaching problems in professional development for science teachers. We videotaped six PBL sessions facilitated by three pairs of experienced facilitators. Data analysis showed that facilitators asked a set of questions to initiate and advance PBL discourse, including questions to solicit ideas, to reframe ideas, to clarify ideas, to push for elaboration, to check for interpretation, and to connect to teachers' classroom practice. This study has implications for the development of PBL facilitators.

To understand more about faculty perceptions of the instructional benefits of and barriers to using case studies, we surveyed 101 science faculty at universities and colleges in the United States and Canada. The results provided evidence that, overall, faculty think cases have a positive impact on student learning, critical thinking, and participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of case-based molecular biology simulations in exploring biotechnology. This software enables teachers to meet several national science standards, such as connecting science to real-life situations and encouraging students to think about the relationships among science, technology and society. Case It! includes three software tools: Case It! Investigator to gather background information on genetic diseases; the Case It! Simulation to analyze DNA related to these diseases, and the Case It! Launch Pad to access a Web Page Editor and Internet Conferencing System.