Professional Development for Teachers, Free Essay Sample

Professional Growth for Teachers

Strategy of Inquiry

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The methodology utilized for this research applies the qualitative research approach and will explicitly make use of the case study strategy of inquiry with the valuable sampling of teachers' development using 1:1 laptop programs in their classroom. The case study qualitative methodology is important in this case because it will provide the necessary tools for me to study the complex phenomena within the implementation of the 1:1 laptop initiative in the classroom context.

Background Information about the Qualitative Case Study Methodology

The qualitative case study is a distinct research inquiry strategy that facilitates the exploration of a phenomenon within a specific context with the use of a variety of data sources (Stake, 1995). The utilization of diverse data sources ensures that the issue being studied is explored through a variety of lenses which gives room for multiple facets of the phenomenon to be understood and revealed at the end of the study. The case study methodology has to key approaches which ensure that the topic of interest is thoroughly explored and that the essence of the phenomena is revealed.

With reference to the primary objective of this particular study, this research strategy of inquiry is the most applicable due to its diversity in data. Using it as the main strategy of research design will allow us to retain the holistic characteristics of the real classroom events after the implementation of the 1:1 laptop instructional model, while at the same time allow the investigation of empirical events. Additionally, the qualitative method used for the methodology of this study are such as open-ended interviewing, purposive sampling as well as systematic data collection and data analysis procedures. With these methods, the qualitative case study approach will provide various descriptive accounts of various cases and the day to day experiences by the high school teachers in implementing a 1:1 laptop instructional model.

Teachers Development Plan

The Intended Outcome for the Case Study Strategy

In this particular research, the case study approach aims to explore the phenomenon of everyday classroom experiences within the context of the implementation of the 1:1 laptop initiative as compared to their teaching perceptions before the implementation of the initiative.

The Source of the Case Study Strategy

A study that employs the qualitative case study approach enables the researcher to explore various cases and several study participants so as to understand the concept or a phenomenon. This, in essence, involves collecting multiple data from different cases of individuals who have an experience with a particular phenomenon. For instance, in this particular study, the strategy used will include collecting data from multiple case studies of teachers who have had a classroom experience with the 1:1 laptop initiative.

Appropriateness of the Qualitative Case Study Approach

The qualitative case study approach is an appropriate inquiry strategy in this study since it allows in-depth multi-faced explorations of complex issues, such as the implementation of the one-to-one initiative, in a real classroom setting. Additionally, this approach is relevant in answering individual research questions without a generalization of the entire topic being studied. Qualitative research is used to explore a phenomenon that evolves along the way or the phenomena where the participants take quite some time to understand what is going on or to feel the impact of the phenomena really. The strategy used in this particular research is designed to describe the perceptions and live classroom experiences of the teachers as they integrated the laptop initiative in their teaching practice. Unlike in the use of other strategies, the qualitative case study approach is not designed to develop a theory or test a particular hypothesis.

Teachers professional growth

Participants

The purposive sampling method will be sought to 15 teachers with a minimum of one-year teaching experience using the 1:1 laptop model initiative (Suri, 2011). The participants are the teachers who have taught different subjects in both junior and senior years of high school using this laptop model initiative that allows teachers and students to have access to personal laptops but similar software, in the classroom. The site of the study is a small rural high school in South Eastern, Michigan which has for the past one year, incorporated the laptop initiative. Among the 15 sampled participants, seven will be male teachers and eight 0f them, female teachers. Regarding the subjects taught, 4 of the 15 participants are teachers of science based subjects while the remaining 11 are from various disciplines such as humanities, languages and social sciences. Also, all the participant teachers are professional high school teachers with undergraduate degrees and specialties in the specific subjects that they. Because the goal and the research questions in this study are based on the examination of the teaching experiences of the high school teachers with the implementation of the 1:1 laptop model, it is important that all the participants will have taught in the school; before and during the one year of the implementation of the initiative.

The experience which these teachers had during the previous years before the implementation of the laptop model initiative will be used as a central reference which gave them a basis from which they can make a comparison of their classroom perception with and without the 1:1 laptop initiative. The type of data collected in this study is based on the teacher’s background before the implementation of the strategy. For instance, there are those teachers, among the 15 participants, who are coming from a background where they had taught with sophisticated network system desktops which were different from the 1:1 laptop program in the sense that students did not essentially have access to their personal computers. Additionally, other participant teachers have a background where they had chosen not to teach with the desktop computers available in the computer labs or their classrooms.

Recruitment of Participants

Once the IRB is approved, I will make contact with the high school principal of the selected research site and get permission to conduct the study as the school. The principal will distribute the enrollment letter and questionnaire to the teachers participating in the 1:1 laptop program within the high school. I will aim to get 90% of the teacher population to take part in the study. This will leave a healthy percentage if there are teachers who opt out of the study.