Page 76 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

A Paradigm Shift for Teachers’ Professional Development Structure in Turkey

The Theoretical Framework, Aim, and Structure of the
Longitudinal Professional Development Programme

The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) developed by Hand and Keys (1999) is a theoretical framework
stressing the importance of language use in learning and forming the basis of scientific debate in the
conceptual sense. This approach was later modified with an emphasis on ‘argumentation’ and named
the Argument-Based Inquiry (ABI) (Hand, 2008; Hand, 2009; Norton-Meier et al. 2009). Today, the
objective of ABI is to make a difference in teachers’ perspectives on learning and teaching to support
students’ science-learning through the arguments they build on the ideas derived from their research.
Many studies in the literature worldwide have attempted to prove the effectiveness of the ABI approach
(Hand & Keys, 1999; Keys, Hand, Prain & Collins, 1999; Wallance, Yang, Hand & Hohenshell, 2001;
Hohenshell & Hand, 2006; Rudd, Greenbowe, Hand & Legg, 2001; Grimberg, Mohammed & Hand,
2004; Akkus, Gunel & Hand, 2007).
The project aimed to improve teachers’ professional knowledge and bring about change in their
practices within the scope of the theoretical framework of the ABI approach through the organised in-
service training programmes. Since teachers undergo pedagogical changes over a long term, five-day
in-service training programmes were organized every six months over the course of three years as part
of the project. These programmes aimed to equip the participating teachers with the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes in line with the ABI approach. In order to determine whether the expected change occurred
in the teaching pedagogy, the changes in the students’ field knowledge, critical thinking, and scientific
processing skills as well as their attitude to science were also investigated.
The project aimed to detect the pedagogical change in science and technology teachers through
in-service training in line with the ABI approach, and the impact of this change in the classroom. A
detailed information about the participating teachers, in-service training programmes, and implementa-
tion processes are summarized in the following section.

Participating Teachers

The teachers’ participation in the project was completely voluntary. At the project proposal stage, ap-
proximately 500 science and technology teachers were contacted by e-mail for the selection of the
participants. These teachers had previously taken part in the in-service training programmes organized
by MoNE and conducted by the project leader. The e-mail contained information about the content and
main objectives of the project, and an invitation to participate in the training programmes.
Data obtained from the State Planning Organization (SPO, 2003) was used for the selection of the
voluntary teachers. The SPO (2003) divided provinces in Turkey into groups by level of development
with reference to their socio-economic parameters. This parameter was considered for the selection of
the participants so that provinces with different levels of development could be represented. In this way,
30 voluntary teachers working in 21 different provinces were selected as participants.

In-Service Training Programmes

Through in-service training, the project aimed to direct science teachers towards student-centred teach-
ing. The training activities focused on the scientific thinking underpinning the teachers’ professional
knowledge and practices. In line with the project goals, longitudinal in-service training programmes were

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