2017-18 Wing Institute Student Research Grant Results

Title: Evaluating a Multimedia Professional Development Package for Improving Implementation of Evidence-Based Instructional Practices

Author: John Elwood Romig, Ph.D.

Research Proposal: Explicit modeling is an effective instructional strategy in a wide spectrum of academic and behavioral skills (Hughes, Morris, Therrien, & Benson, 2017).  Specifically, in the area of writing instruction, modeling is widely regarded as an evidence-based instructional strategy to improve students’ achievement (Troia, 2014).  However, teachers rarely use modeling or other high quality instructional practices during writing instruction (Graham, Capizzi, Harris, Hebert, & Morphy, 2014; Gillespie, Graham, Kiuhara, & Hebert, 2014; Grisham & Wolsey, 2011).

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a professional development package designed using cognitive apprenticeship (i.e., Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989) as a guiding framework. This professional development package, Content Acquisition Podcast – Professional Development (CAP-PD), consisted of modeling videos, performance feedback, and instructional scaffolds in the form of customizable curricular materials. To determine the effectiveness of this package, I conducted a single case multiple baseline across participants experiment. Read more