Questioning is an important tool in classroom discourse. Asking the right questions or encouraging students to ask higher order questions can lead to an improvement in student learning. Prior research on teacher questioning in science classrooms has primarily focused on the frequency and quality of questions. This study, however, seeks to examine the change in teachers' questioning behavior as they progress through the Target Inquiry (TI) program, a long-term, coherent professional development program for high school chemistry teachers. The TI program, with inquiry-based instruction at its core, engages teachers in three key experiences which build on each other in succession: (1) research experiences for teachers (RET); (2) materials development and adaptation; and (3) action research.Primary data sources for this study include classroom observations of six participant teachers from the first and second TI cohorts over a period of five years, teacher interviews, and copies of instructional materials used in classroom. Schlitt and Abraham's Teacher Interaction Categories (SATIC) instrument was used for analyzing teacher verbal behavior. SATIC is used to measure the level and frequency of teacher verbal and non-verbal communication during a lesson, laboratory activity, or group discussion with an emphasis on teacher questioning. By examining teacher questioning behavior we hope to identify ways in which teacher professional development can better meet the needs of teachers and their students, particularly in the light of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its emphasis on questioning skills in science. This talk will present findings from SATIC analysis as well as the potential implications of teacher questioning behaviors for teacher professional development will be discussed.

Impact of Target Inquiry (TI) professional development program on teacher questioning behavior in science classroom

247th National Meeting (2014)

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