Examining the teaching of science, and technology and engineering content and practices: An instrument modification study

A modified Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) (Piburn & Sawada, 2000) instrument was used to separately examine eight technology and engineering (T&E) educators’ teaching of science, and T&E content and practices, as called for by the Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology (International Technology Education Association [ITEA/ITEEA], 2000/2002/2007) and the Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States (NGSS Lead States, 2013). The modified RTOP presented in this article can help provide feedback to teachers at all grade levels concerning their reformed teaching of science content and practices, and T&E content and practices. The instrument achieved acceptable interrater reliability (> 80%) and was tested in a larger study (Love & Wells, 2017). Results revealed a significant difference among participants’ teaching of science and T&E content and practices according to a myriad of variables, such as years of teaching experience, years of experience teaching the Foundations of Technology (FoT) curriculum, length of the FoT curriculum training attended, and select preparation experiences. Research implications suggest that the instrument affords equal applicability for examining science educators’ teaching of T&E content and practices and informing pre- and in-service teacher preparation efforts by determining key factors that significantly influence educators’ teaching of these concepts.