03/13/2025
By Zakkiyya Witherspoon

The School of Education invites you to attend a doctoral dissertation defense by Bridget McPhelin “Empowering Educators to Engage: Using Collaborative Inquiry in a Professional Learning Community Model to Develop Biology Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Cognitively Engaging Black and Latinx Students”

Candidate: Bridget McPhelin
Degree: Doctoral- Leadership in Schooling (STEM)
Defense Date: Thursday, March 27, 2025
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Remote Zoom link:
Thesis/Dissertation Title: "Empowering Educators to Engage: Using Collaborative Inquiry in a Professional Learning Community Model to Develop Biology Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Cognitively Engaging Black and Latinx Students”

Dissertation Committee
Dissertation Chair: Michelle Scribner, Ed.D., Clinical Professor, Mathematics and Science Education, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee Member: William Goldsworthy Ed.D., Adjunct Faculty, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Dissertation Committee Member: Eleanor Abrams, Ph.D, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract
This dissertation-in-practice examines the impact of a six-week collaborative inquiry cycle on biology teachers’ self-efficacy in engaging Black and Latinx students within a Professional Learning Community (PLC) model. Inequities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce perpetuate biases in scientific research and disparities in career opportunities; thus, there is a need for public schools to provide science instruction that actively supports and engages Black and Latinx students, who remain significantly underrepresented in STEM professions. Grounded in research that highlights how teacher skill development, self-efficacy, and collaboration can interdependently affect students’ educational outcomes, this study explores how structured professional development can enhance teachers’ ability to engage Black and Latinx students. This research aimed to understand the influence of content-specific, data-informed, structured, and collaborative PLC work on science teachers’ beliefs about their ability to engage students authentically. Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach, this study analyzed qualitative data from classroom observations and semi-structured interview transcriptions, along with quantitative data from teacher surveys, from a sample of three biology teachers. Findings indicate that participation in the PLC strengthened teachers’ self-efficacy in cognitively engaging students, increased their use of active learning strategies, and shifted their perceptions of students’ abilities. Future research should examine the long-term impact of collaborative inquiry PLCs on teachers’ self-efficacy in engaging students and student experiences in science classrooms.