Math and Science Teachers' Use of Design-Based Pedagogy to Integrate LEGO Robotics as Professional Practitioners
Adam Devitt · Proceedings of the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting · 2019
ProblemTeaching math and science in middle school is a dynamically complex activity (Darling-Hammond, 2006).According to National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), teachers are responsible for creating a logically, conceptually, and pedagogically coherent curriculum by linking knowledge production with learning scientific phenomena and real-world application (NCTM, 2014).Teaching middle school math and science is further complicated with increasing demand to integrate ever-evolving technologies (e.g., computers, robotics, programming etc.) and for attending to the needs of diverse student populations (English Language Learners, students with IEPs, ect.) (Bergen, 2001).Thus, research on teacher education should support teacher development for designing and implementing innovative curricula, instructional practices, and content knowledges in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educationthat inclusively develops scientifically and technologically literate citizens (NGSS, 2013).Professional teachers "exercise discretion in making decisions within the scope of their expertise, and they assume some authority for their own professional development" (Grady, Helbling, & Lubeck (2008, p. 603).However, the dominant approach in current educational research is to design and test instructional practices or curriculum in advance for teachers provided as pre-packaged curricular kits intended to be "teacher-proof".Often 'fidelity of implementation' is used to evaluate the extent to which an intervention is implemented by teachers according to how researchers intended (O'Donnell, 2008).Pedagogy that reflects this kind of approach deprofessionalizes the role of teachers while also disadvantaging the most vulnerable populations of students (e.g., Students with IEPs, ELLS) by restraining teachers from making contextual and personally tailored pedagogical decisions (Giroux, 2013).Design-based research is an emerging research approach which acknowledges the need for teachers to exercise professional decision-making for altering research-designed interventions in order for such interventions to be appropriate for their own classrooms (Bakker & Eerde, 2015).However, even with this approach, teachers' professional expertise is often omitted from the design and innovation of curriculum and instructional practices (NGSS, 2013).The approach we propose, which expands design-based research to include teacher professionalism, is to apply Donald Schön's (1983) formative structure for professional practice to position teachers as design-partners where they have authority to exercise agency and expertise during design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions.From a Schönian perspective, professional practice involves: 1) identifying problem spaces, 2) reframing problems in classroom contexts, and 3) experimenting and evaluating interventions.We use Schön's (1983) analytical tool for professional practice to investigate how teachers integrate robotics into math and science teaching while attending to complex and dynamic contextual issues (e.g., IEPs, ELLs, technological knowledge). Theoretical FrameworkWe advance the development of design-based pedagogy (Authors, 2018) to provide a strategy for pedagogical integration of robotics consistent with Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) (Mishra, & Koehler, 2006) by applying an analytical framework that makes teacher professional knowledge within design-based pedagogy for building curriculum, designing instruction, testing and evaluating solutions, a key research strategy.This approach integrates Anne Brown's (1992) design-based research with Schön's (1983) framework for