Recordings

This study explored video technology as a tool to overcome problems of distance, cost, and shortage of presenters hindering the professional development of rural science teachers. A qualitative design was used to collect data on how 4 teachers responded to 10 videotaped vignettes of science instruction. The 4-minute vignettes showed urban teachers engaging students in hands-on activities to discover scientific principles. Three of the responding teachers were in their second year of teaching and the fourth had taught for 8 years. The teachers provided responses to the vignettes in interviews, videotaped data, and journals, and during classroom observations. Data were transcribed into protocols and categorized according to prevalent themes. The data were verified using juxtapositioning, recurring data, and triangulation. Although three of the four teachers were initially skeptical of vignettes that did not match their classroom environment, they seemed to construct their own meaning of the vignettes as they reflected upon their classroom practices. The findings suggest that vignettes could be valuable tools for professional development, particularly with the support of an external person or other staff members. Present and future possibilities are outlined for the use of vignettes in distance education for teachers. (Contains 24 references.) (KS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********Y,**********************************************************