Research, Development and Evaluation Projects

Current Projects

Teachers' Enactment of Practices Emphasized in a Technology-Related Learner-Centered Professional Development Program. (August 2005-present)

I am examining the extent and manner that teachers enact the practices emphasized in a learner-centered professional development program. The current context is a professional development project aimed at supporting participants' implementation of worthwhile mathematical tasks and technology in their classroom. Research methods include videotaping participants' mathematics instruction, conducting interviews and examining student work samples.

Scholarship:
Dissertation: Chapters 1-3, Chapters 4-5, References and Appendices

Tracing Preservice Teachers' Views of Technology Integration. (January 2004-2006)

I am serving as one of the Principal Investigators in a longitudinal study investigating how pre-service teachers' views of technology integration changes throughout their teacher education program. The primary data are semi-structured interviews with participants. I am looking at collecting more data from participants here at UNC-Charlotte.
Co-Investigator: Craig Shepherd (craig.shepherd@gmail.com)

Scholarship:
Polly, D. & Shepherd, C.E. (in press). Preservice teachers' perceptions of appropriate technologies. Chapter submitted for inclusion in H. Song & T. Kidd (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Instructional Systems and Technology. Contribution: 75%. PDF.

Polly, D. & Shepherd, C. (2005, April). Understanding pre-service teachers' impressions of technology's role in education. Paper presented at the 2005 American Educational Research Association's Annual Meeting: Montreal, Canada. Contribution: 50%. Slides in PDF form.

Evaluating the Impact of PT3 Projects

I am part of a research conducting an analysis of PT3 projects designed to impact teacher education programs by improving the technology-related experiences in both methods courses, field experiences and faculty support.

Scholarship:
Mims, C., Polly, D., Shepherd, C., Inan, F. (2006). Examining PT3 projects designed to improve preservice education. Tech Trends, 50(3), 17-24. Contribution: 25%. PDF.

Past Projects

Website: http://intermath.coe.uga.edu

InterMath is a National Science Foundation-funded project for middle grades mathematics teachers. The project has three primary goals: developing participants' mathematical content knowledge, develop their skills with mathematical-related technologies (e.g. spreadsheets, Geometer's SketchPad, graphing software). Responsibilities include conducting research related to the program. Other duties include maintaining and developing a website of technology-rich mathematical investigations and other professional development materials, designing and implementing train-the-trainers sessions, and providing technical support for InterMath instructors.
Head Research Scientist: Dr. Chandra Orrill (corrill@uga.edu)

Scholarship:
Polly, D. (2006). Participants’ focus in a learner-centered technology-rich mathematics professional development program. The Mathematics Educator, 16(1), 14-21. PDF.

Bleich, L., Ledford, S.D., Orrill, C.H., & Polly, D., (2006). An analysis of the use of graphical representation in participants’ solutions. The Mathematics Educator, 16(1), 22-34. Contribution: 25%. PDF.

Polly, D., Orrill, C.H., Ledford, S., Bleich, L. (2005, October). InterMath-GPS: Addressing teachers' needs with the design of a learner-centered professional development course. Presentation given at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology International Conference: Orlando, FL. PDF.

Evaluation of Georgia's Dept. of Education Title II-D Initiative, Enhancing Education Through Technology. December 2003-present.

The Title II-D Initiative is a comprehensive professional development program that is providing technology and professional development in order to support teachers' integration of technology in mathematics in Title II schools. My primary duties have involved aligning norm-based, criterion-referenced and performance-based assessments to Georgia's mathematics standards, designing and collecting survey data and running analyses on quantitative data. Additional duties include co-writing evaluation and yearly reports for the Georgia Department of Education.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael J. Hannafin (hannafin@uga.edu), Dr. Kathleen Hannafin

Website: http://lpsl.coe.uga.edu/mile3/tim/

Technology Integration in Mathematics. University of Georgia (November 2002-May 2004)
I assisted in the design, development and implementation of a professional development program for elementary school teachers that was funded by a Teacher Quality grant. The professional development focused on supporting teachers to employ technology-rich open-ended activities in their mathematics instruction. Primary duties included recruiting partnership schools, writing portions of the grant proposals, delivering professional development and supporting teachers in their classrooms.
Principal Investigators: Dr. Chandra Orrill (corrill@uga.edu)

The Impact of Open-ended Learning Activities on Mathematics Student Achievement
College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (January 2002-January 2004)
I analyzed data after it was collected in a mixed-methods study that looked at the effect of open-ended learning environments on student's acquisition of geometry concepts.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Robert Hannafin (robert.hannafin@uconn.edu)

Evaluation of My Community CD-ROM (August-December, 2004)
I conducted an evaluation and a usability study for My Community, a CD-ROM that has been designed to teach social skills to children with speech and language disorders.
Client: Ben Rockwood, Panza Interactive

Arizona State University's NETS Video Project (September, 2004)
I served as an expert evaluator of instructional DVDs that were produced by Arizona State University's U.S. Department of Education PT3 initiative. The DVDs featured videos of technology-rich lessons
Client: Jennifer Borse, Rockman et al.