Evaluation of Talk Science! Scalable Web-based Professional Development to Improve Science Learning

This project is evaluating the Talk Science! program, led by TERC, which strives to study and enhance the development of teachers’ skills in managing productive classroom talk in inquiry-based science.

The Talk Science! project will document teachers’ learning and study the changes in discussion patterns in 18 science classrooms in urban, suburban, and rural schools. The project’s hypothesis is that aligning professional learning with conceptually driven curricula and emphasizing the development of scientific discourse will change classroom culture and increase student learning.

The overall evaluation goals are:

• Provide information on the functionality of the Talk Science! resources
• Demonstrate the extent to which teachers in a variety of educational settings use Talk Science! successfully
• Provide evidence that Talk Science! improves teaching and learning