USING LEARNING PROGRESSIONS TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT AN INQUIRY MODEL FOR FORCE AND MOTION AT K-5 LEVEL

Science faculty and teacher curriculum specialists implemented a model for teacher development with intensive involvement of 34 K-5 teachers from two rural districts in NE Kentucky over a two-year period. The KY science standards were used as a framework for constructing learning progressions and linked guided inquiry activities in the content area of force and motion. The questions in this paper concern the development and structure of the learning progressions, their impact on developing curricular materials, and the effect they have on teacher cognitive development in the area of force and motion. The learning progressions were developed through an iterative process during which teachers in each grade level gained familiarity with content and pedagogy for all grades. This enabled the leadership team to learn from the teachers what would be meaningful at each grade level, in addition to the teachers themselves gaining comfort with science content. Pre-post testing of content knowledge, ongoing formative assessment, feedback surveys, and classroom observations permitted insight into teachers' initial knowledge base in these areas and changes in their conceptions of scientific ideas, as well as the impact of the project on student learning.