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Abstract
Professional development (PD) is crucial for enhancing teachers' pedagogical skills and impacting student learning outcomes. Despite its importance, current PD approaches often fail to achieve desired changes in instructional practices. This educational design research (EDR) project advocated developing purposeful design principles for online PD courses to facilitate evolutionary changes in teaching practices. Drawing on Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory (1983), Guskey's Model of Teacher Change (2002), and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (1986), five design principles emphasizing critical reflection were formulated. An EDR pilot study evaluated the efficacy of these principles, revealing that teachers perceived reflection as beneficial and identified changes in instructional practices throughout the learning cycle.To further understand how the design principles support teachers in making evolutionary changes to their instruction practice, the need arose to understand how ready teachers were to make those changes. Recognizing that readiness for change is pivotal, the article introduces the URICA-TEACH survey, adapted from the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment, to assess teachers' readiness to modify instructional practices. Validated through administration to 191 K-12 teachers, the survey demonstrated reliability and validity in assessing teachers' readiness for change.
The second iteration of the EDR project further tested the design principles. Emphasizing the need for PD to be geared towards specific changes, the second study focused on two design principles, which center on critical reflection and operationalize critical reflection through a guided process, to support teachers in making evolutionary changes. These principles, a subset of a broader research project, were integrated into a PD course. Using mixed methods analysis, the study assessed the impact of these principles on 12 course participants' levels of reflection, types of changes expressed, and readiness for change. Results suggest that design principles may facilitate evolutionary changes in instructional practices, with implications for future iterations of the EDR project.