Following several years of development work in the eleventh grade classes at the Laboratory School, CRDG’s newest science program—Physics, Physiology, and Technology (PP&T)—has begun pilot testing in several of Hawai‘i’s public schools and is expanding its focus to include studying the effect of mentoring on teaching.
With funding from a No Child Left Behind grant to a UH Mānoa physics professor, PP&T development team members from CRDG and the College of Education worked with teachers from the islands of Maui, Kaua‘i, and Hawai‘i in a professional development program that combined a one-week professional development summer workshop with subsequent classroom support.
In the course of their work with teachers trained in the program, the PP&T team began to ask, “What effect does mentored teaching have on teachers’ perceived efficacy, and ultimately on classroom practice?” To answer this question, the collaborative team has begun planning for a one-week mentor teaching experience to be held under the auspices of the CRDG Summer Programs.
Coached by the PP&T team, cooperating teachers will be exploring the pedagogical features of PP&T by engaging in mentored teaching with a special class of summer science students.