AMSTI-Professional Development Program
Abstract
The University of South Alabama College of Education and Arts & Sciences, the Center for
Integrative Studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CISSTEM) at USA
in collaboration with AMSTI-USA and the Mobile and Baldwin County Public School Systems
partnered to implement a comprehensive three-year professional development program for
middle school math teachers designed to:
• deepen the content knowledge of participating teachers,
• enhance their fidelity to the AMSTI methodology and best instructional practices, and
• create a culture of increased learning with respect to the Common Core Standards that
will result in increased student achievement in mathematics,
• create a replicable, sustainable, and cost effective Professional Development model for
teachers that uses scientifically based research, best practices, and identified student
needs.
The professional development model is a hands-on, inquiry-centered, cooperative, and
involve authentic assessment just like the AMSTI program itself. The AMSTI-Professional
Development Program is designed to emphasize content and process skills through real world
applications. We believe that if we increase teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge, we
will improve their self-efficacy and student achievement will improve as a result. Our research
base is founded on the following core beliefs that student learning is more likely to improve if
the professional learning that teachers participate in increases their understanding of the content
they teach, how students learn that content, and how to represent and communicate that content
in a significant way (Cohen & Hill, 2000). Deeper content will be facilitated by the teachers’
participation in Math Circles during the academic year. This PD program will be led by
professors from the University’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics and facilitated by
AMSTI and College of Education faculty. A second critical component is the summer PD
program wherein math teachers will engage in AMSTI training in an authentic context with
middle grades children during a three-week program designed to teach best practices and
reinforce fidelity to AMSTI pedagogy. The identified partnerships along with the Mobile Area
Education Foundation through its Engaging Youth through Engineering (EYE) project will
engage teachers in professional learning teams and content focused coaching and PD. In this
phase of the project AMSTI-PDP engages middle school mathematics and science teachers in
AMSTI and EYE pedagogy and provides a wide spectrum of inquiry-based teaching strategies
proven to be effective with children from different backgrounds.
Thus, the impact of this project is manifested at both the K-12 and University levels. We
recognize the notion that professional development is a sustainable resource. Although textbooks
may change, enhanced professional development that focuses on increased content knowledge
and best-practices instruction is the foundation of a transformative and sustainable model.