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Teacher design in teams as a professional development arrangement for developing technology integration knowledge and skills of science teachers in Tanzania

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Abstract

This study investigated the impact of teacher design teams as a professional development arrangement for developing technology integration knowledge and skills among in-service science teachers. The study was conducted at a secondary school in Tanzania, where 12 in-service science teachers participated in a workshop about technology integration in science teaching and worked in design teams to prepare technology-enhanced biology, chemistry and physics lessons. Through collaboration in design teams, teachers were able to make science animations using PowerPoint and record videos to use in their teaching. The designed lessons were taught in the classroom and reflected upon thereafter by all teachers. In order to determine the change in teachers’ technology integration knowledge and skills, data were collected before and after the professional development arrangement by using questionnaire, interview and observation data. Focus group discussion and reflection questionnaire data were used to assess teachers’ experience of working in design teams at the end of the professional development arrangement. Findings showed an increase in teachers’ technology integration knowledge and skills between pre- and post-measurements. Collaboration in design teams had the potential for teachers to share knowledge, skills, experience and challenges related to technology-enhanced teaching.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Dar Es Salaam University College of Education, 2329, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

    Ayoub Kafyulilo

  2. National Institute for Curriculum Development, PO Box 2041, 7500 CA, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Petra Fisser

  3. Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 19268, 1000 GG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Joke Voogt

Authors
  1. Ayoub Kafyulilo
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  2. Petra Fisser
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  3. Joke Voogt
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Correspondence to Petra Fisser.

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Kafyulilo, A., Fisser, P. & Voogt, J. Teacher design in teams as a professional development arrangement for developing technology integration knowledge and skills of science teachers in Tanzania. Educ Inf Technol 21, 301–318 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-014-9321-0

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