Teaching Science Effectively: A Case Study on Student Verbal Engagement in Classroom Dialogue

The present case study illustrates a teacher who participated in a oneyear, video-based, teacher professional development (TPD) program on classroom dialogue. This study expands the field of research on TPD by presenting the longitudinal results of Laura’s teaching performance, her students’ engagement in classroom dialogue, and their higher order learning perceptions. Additionally, a reflection of her participation in the TPD provides more insights into the role of TPD programs for individual teacher learning. Results revealed that Laura constantly changed her questioning and feedback behavior in terms of providing her students with more questions that foster elaboration of knowledge and feedback, which scaffolds students’ learning processes. As a consequence, more students in Laura’s classroom elaborated on their knowledge, which was reflected by a positive change in student higher order learning perceptions. Her reflection showed that the video tool and a mindful facilitation of the TPD program were of great value for Laura’s positive learning experience.

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