Knowledge Building Approach to Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

This paper describes a work-in-process research project aiming at examining the design of teacher professional development (PD) with knowledge building approach for promoting teachers’ epistemology, conception of teaching and learning, and teaching practices. The participants are university teachers who attend the designed PD program. Multiples source data will be collected, including classroom videos and artefacts, online discussion, survey responses, and interview data. We will analyse participants’ online discussions and artifacts to understand their knowledge building process. Quantitative analysis will be conducted to examine the change of participants’ epistemic beliefs and conceptions about teaching and learning after the program. Correlation and regression analysis will be used to examine how teachers’ knowledge building process predict their post epistemic beliefs and conceptions of teaching and learning. Finally, individual interviews will be conducted with teachers to understand how the PD program has influenced their teaching practices. This research will contribute to our understanding of the role of computer supported knowledge building in supporting teacher learning in higher education.