Collaborative Learning in Pre-service/In-service Communities of Practice: Discovering How and When to Integrate Technology in Senior High Science

Abstract

This chapter will describe how a research-based Community of Practice (CoP) of pre-service and in-service teachers supported teachers’ reflection and learning about how and when to integrate hand-held data loggers. This study suggests that the CoP narrowed the gap between theory (in teacher education) and practice (in the school classroom). Findings will describe effective ways to use hand-held data loggers in senior high school science classes, as well as in pre-service teacher education courses. The possibilities of building even stronger connections between the traditionally theoretical world of teacher education and the real world of school are suggested.