2007 ANNUAL REPORT - cosmos - Bowling Green State University

Culture: An average rating of 4.1 was given to the observed sessions on culture. This aspect of
the sessions was the third most highly rated after the design and content of the sessions.
Strengths included: high engagement of the participants (4); encouragement of active
participation by all participants (5); climate of respect for the participants (5); use of good
management strategies (1); intellectual rigor, constructive criticism and the challenging of ideas
were evident (2); having a climate that encourages the participants to generate ideas and
propositions (6); collaborative relationship between the facilitator and the participants (4); and
collaborative relationship among the participants (5).
Note: the numbers in parentheses indicate how many of the nine observed sessions this was applicable to.
Recommendations included: encourage more active participation (1), increase intellectual rigor
(1), use more constructive criticism (2), and consider challenging of participants’ ideas (2).
Note: the numbers in parentheses indicate how many of the nine observed sessions this was applicable to.
Overall Capsule: An average overall rating of 3.7 was given to the observed sessions.
Rationale included: session demonstrated exemplary and accomplished instruction (1);
instruction was purposeful (3); participants were actively engaged (1); session was welldesigned
(1); session had a positive impact on participants’ ability to identify and understand
important ideas in science and mathematics (1); session modeled investigative teaching
strategies (4); facilitators were knowledgeable (3). However sometimes not enough time was
provided for closure (2); not enough focus was made on how students learn (1); participants’
expertise was not well utilized (2); not enough opportunity was provided for participation and
sharing of ideas (1)
Note: the numbers in parentheses indicate how many of the nine observed sessions this was applicable to.
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Goal 1 - Evaluation Question 3: How do participants perceive that NWO activities
have impacted their beliefs and practices?
TEAMS Participant Interview Results: The impact of NWO Center activities on teacher beliefs
and practices can be inferred from teachers’ responses to several interview questions, based on
what the teachers believe they can and should be doing. One of such examples is that the
teachers said they felt more confident as a result of participating in TEAMS in what they were
teaching and how. This implies that they believe in the direct relationship between confidence
and good teaching. Another example is that they believe that doing inquiry-based teaching is
more beneficial than the more traditional teaching. Thus, one teacher said, “I’m definitely a more
inquiry-based teacher. I feel that my questioning skills have increased greatly and I have
become more of a facilitator and not so much a giver of knowledge.” Another teacher said, “I’ve
become a better observer and … I’m able to see if a student is getting something…It doesn’t
necessarily need to be something I see written down on a piece of paper.” All of these are
examples of beliefs and practices that the teachers started valuing more after the professional
development. Even analyzing the reasons for participating in TEAMS is a good source of
information about teacher beliefs. Thus one of the reasons mentioned by the teachers was to
learn about hands-on activities and experiments that could be linked to indicators, i.e., they