Our PD model encompassed elements from several PD design frameworks. LoucksHorsely,
Hewson, Love, and Stiles (1998) identified 15 different strategies that are used
for professional development for teachers of science and mathematics which fall into five
categories: Immersion (involve participants in doing science and mathematics); Curriculum
(curriculum strategies involve teachers with the actual learning materials they will use with
their students; Examining practice (PD that focuses on teachers own practice, job embedded
learning); Collaborative Work (professional networks and professional learning communities);
and Vehicles mechanisms (structures of PD primarily workshops and institutes).
Furthermore, Loucks-Horsley, Love, Stiles, Mundry, and Hewson (2003) expanded that PD
design framework by adding important factors, such as connecting PD to student learning,
emphasizing a rigorous evaluation of teacher learning and having teachers reflect
on the PD experience and its impact on their learning. Similarly, Bransford and colleagues
(National Research Council [NRC], 1999) call attention to the crucial significance of several
factors while designing PD for STEM teachers, such as: (a) deepening teachers’ content
knowledge of STEM concepts, (b) developing teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge
in STEM areas, (c) engaging them in cooperative learning, (d) seeking teachers’ input on
their learning, and (e) inviting teachers to write about their students’ learning to uncover
their struggles with learning science and mathematics.