Methods

Participants

In the second year of the Talk Science research (2010–2011), we worked with eleven teachers from Grade 4, who participated in the professional development program and implemented the Inquiry Project curriculum for Grade 4 for the first time. We recruited the teachers from five schools distributed among suburban, inner–city, and rural areas in Massachusetts and Vermont.

In the third year of our research (2011–2012), we worked with nine Grade 4 teachers, eight of whom had participated in the Talk Science program previously. In this year, we also worked with eleven teachers from Grade 5 from the afore mentioned schools, who participated in the Talk Science program and implemented the Inquiry Project curriculum for the first time.

Data Sources

We collected various kinds of information to address our research questions. During the second year of the Talk Science research (2010–2011), we interviewed Grade 4 teachers prior to and upon the completion of the curriculum to explore their understandings of and strategies for supporting classroom talk, and their understandings of the science concepts in the curriculum. We gathered audio recordings of a 15–minute pre– and post– concept cartoon discussion from each teacher’s classroom, and video recordings of two sets of early and late lesson discussions from three teachers to explore patterns in teachers’ facilitation of and students’ participation in classroom interactions. We also audio recorded the teachers’ study group meetings that took place in their respective schools.

During the third year of our research (2011–2012), we continued to collect data from the Grade 4 teachers, who were now implementing the Inquiry Project curriculum and participating in the Talk Science program for the second time. During this year, we interviewed the teachers again regarding their perspectives on and strategies for supporting classroom discussions, and collected audio recordings of 15–minute pre– and post–concept cartoon discussions in their classrooms. We collected these data to draw comparisons and track teachers’ progress over the two years of their participation in the professional development program.

We also collected multiple data in the third year of our research from Grade 5 teachers pertaining to their understandings, perspectives, practice, and participation in the program. We interviewed Grade 5 teachers prior to and upon completion of the curriculum regarding their perspectives on the role of classroom discussions in students’ science learning, strategies for facilitating classroom discussions, and their understanding of the core ideas in the curriculum. We also audio recorded 15–minute pre– and post–concept cartoon discussions from all teachers, and video recorded two sets of early and late lesson discussions from three teachers to examine patterns in classroom talk. Finally, we audio recorded the teachers’ study group meetings that were held in their respective schools.