HealthyNCT05559294
Effect of Professional Development in Science
A study testing Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for Science and Education and care as Usual (ECAU) in people with Healthy, run by UCL University College, Denmark at 1 site in Denmark.
Trial summary
This trial is a randomized controlled trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a nine-month-long professional development program to improve early childhood educators' and carers' self-efficacy for science approaches, engagement with science, and attitudes toward science in early childhood education and care… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 70 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Healthy
- What is being tested?
- Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for Science and Education and care as Usual (ECAU)
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 1,400 participants
- Where
- 1 siteDenmark
- Study dates
- Jan 2023to Jun 2024
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 70 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Adults employed in a day nursery and/or kindergarten center in the municipality of Odense at the start of the intervention
- Employed in one of four pedagogical positions: pedagogues [pædagoger], assistants [pædagogiske assistenter], assistant teachers [pædagogmedhjælpere], and daily leaders [dalig leder]
Who cannot join
- Employed in other positions than the four above in a day nursery and/or kindergarten center
- "at home child carers" [dagpleje]
- Not able to fill out questionnaires in Danish
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
Denmark1 site
UCL university college
Odense, 5230
Tine Nielsen, PhD, +4528449638, tini@ucl.dk
Morten R petersen, PhD, +4540157415, mrpe@ucl.dk
About this study
Official title: Effect of Professional Development in Science for Early Childhood Education and Care Staff
This trial is a randomized controlled trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a nine-month-long professional development program to improve early childhood educators' and carers' self-efficacy for science approaches, engagement with science, and attitudes toward science in early childhood education and care (ECEC).
Read the detailed description
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff often struggle in working with science with small children, as the National Strengthened Pedagogical Curriculum (Ministry of Children and Education, 2020) is difficult to put into practice. Thus, they are challenged with regard to meeting the national objectives for this in this regard. A large-scale professional development program is developed and implemented to overcome this gap and to enhance ECEC staff's self-efficacy, engagement with, and attitudes toward science.
The intervention is developed by UCL teaching staff in collaboration with the municipality of Odense with the aim of offering all children in Odense municipality's ECEC program a playful and investigative approach to science as defined in the national curriculum theme 'Nature, outdoor life and natural phenomena' by offering ECEC staff extensive professional development in this field. The professional development course will be delivered by UCL teaching staff from the area of early childhood education and care in two consecutive runs, each of nine months duration.
The professional development consists of a combination of three workshops and three e-learning modules. In between workshops and e-learning modules, the ECEC staff implement the content practically by working with science with the children, while receiving supervision from a teacher from the professional development. The set-up is based on the model of teacher professional growth (Clark \& Hollingsworth, 2002). The aim of the professional development program is that ECEC staff becomes able to construct and enhance science-oriented learning environments, thus providing the children with educative experiences with science (Dewey, 1913). The aim of the trial is to assess the effectiveness of the intervention to improve early childhood educators' and carers' self-efficacy for science approaches, engagement with science, and attitudes toward science in early childhood education.
The study is a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). A total of approximately 1400 ECEC staff will be randomized to the professional development in the first run or Education and Care as Usual (ECAU). The ECAU group in the first run will receive the intervention in a second run once the first run is completed.
Participants are ECEC staff in pedagogical positions (i.e. pedagogues, assistants, assistant teachers, and daily leaders) employed in a combined nursery and kindergarten in Odense municipality. Participants must be able to fill out questionnaires in Danish.
Data will be collected at baseline (pre-intervention), after 4.5 months (midway), and 9 months after baseline, when the intervention is completed.
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Being tested
- Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for Science, Education and care as Usual (ECAU)
- Keywords
- Early childhood education and care, Early childhood educators, Self-efficacy for science, Attitudes toward science, Engagement with science, Professional development, Science capital
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for ScienceBehavioural
A nine-month program consisting of three e-learning modules and three group workshops
Education and care as Usual (ECAU)Behavioural
Active control
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Professional development | Experimental | The intervention consists of a nine months long professional development program with an interchange between three e-learning modules and three group workshops starting with an e-learning module and ending with a workshop. Each workshop is 3 hours with approximately 100 participants. The e-learning modules are completed individually by ECEC staff. Between workshops, each day nursery and/or kindergarten center will receive a two-hour supervisory visit from UCL staff to support professional development. The daily leader at the day nursery and/or kindergarten center sets the theme for each supervisory visit to enhance development as much as possible.
The intervention is being designed as a collaboration between UCL and Odense municipality Receives: Behavioral: Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for Science |
| Usual professional development | Active comparator | Education and Care as Usual entails a standing offer from the municipality of Odense for Usual Competence development within the area of nature, outdoor life and natural phenomena visits from a learning consultant to support the ECEC staff's work with digital technology at the day nursery and/or kindergarten center. It is up to the day nursery and/or kindergarten center if the use the offer or not. This offer is extended to all day nursery and/or kindergarten centers. Receives: Behavioral: Education and care as Usual (ECAU) |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Self-efficacy for science approach at 4.5 months
Self-Efficacy for Science Approach (SESA) in early childhood educators and carers. The scale will be developed for purpose with a basis in the National Strengthened Pedagogical Curriculum prior to baseline. Rasch measurement models will be used for validation, including analyses of differential item functioning to ensure that the two groups of staff in the RCT can be compared unbiased. The resulting scale will consist of approximately 15 items (score range 0-60) and have sufficient reliability.
Higher scores are better.
Measured: Baseline, 4,5 months
Change in Self-efficacy for science approach at 9 months
Self-Efficacy for Science Approach (SESA) in early childhood educators and carers. The scale will be developed for purpose with a basis in the National Strengthened Pedagogical Curriculum prior to baseline. Rasch measurement models will be used for validation, including analyses of differential item functioning to ensure that the two groups of staff in the RCT can be compared unbiased. The resulting scale will consist of approximately 15 items (score range 0-60) and have sufficient reliability.
Higher scores are better.
Measured: Baseline, 9 months
Secondary outcomes (7)
Science capital for professionals
The inventory was adapted from the STEM Capital questionnaire developed from the ESRC-funded ASPIRES study at University College London (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/departments/education-practice-and-society/aspires-research) designed for adult higher education students to achieve questions aimed at early childhood educators and carers. For the Attitudes towards Science subscale, some items were also adapted from the Science attitude scales developed by Francis \& Greer (1999) and Oon et al (2019).
The SCPI consist of three subscales and three single item questions, which form the Science Capital for Professionals construct.
- Attitudes towards Science Scale (ASS)
- Engagement with Science in the Work context (ES-work)
- Engagement with in the non-work context (ES-life)
- Three single items on aspects of relationship with science The total SCPI instrument consist of 57 items, range 0-100 (lowest value in each item scored as zero), higher is better.
Measured: Baseline
Change in Attitudes toward science at 4.5 months
Attitudes towards Science Scale (ASS) from the Science Capital for Professional Inventory (SCPI), 10 items, range 0-20, higher is better.
Measured: Baseline, 4,5 months
Change in Attitudes toward science at 9 months
Attitudes towards Science Scale (ASS) from the Science Capital for Professional Inventory (SCPI), 10 items, range 0-20, higher is better.
Measured: Baseline, 9 months
Change in engagement with science in the work life at 4.5 months
Engagement with Science in the Work context subscale (ES-work) from the Science Capital for Professional Inventory (SCPI), 17 items, range 0-36, higher is better.
Measured: Baseline, 4,5 months, 9 months
Change in engagement with science in the work life at 9 months
Engagement with Science in the Work context subscale (ES-work) from the Science Capital for Professional Inventory (SCPI), 17 items, range 0-36, higher is better.
Measured: Baseline, 9 months
Motivation for professional development in science
Expectancy-value Motivation for Engaging in Professional Development in Science (EMEPDS). The inventory will be adapted to the target group from the Expectancy-Value-Cost Scale for students (Kosovich et al., 2015), 10 items, range 0-30. Higher is better
Measured: Baseline
science approach behaviors
Practicing Science Scale (PSS). The scale assesses context-specific ECEC staff behaviors indicating a pedagogical approach implementing the National Strengthened Pedagogical Curriculum objectives with regard to science and technology, 5 items, range 0-15. Higher is better.
Measured: 9 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted29 Sep 2022
- Study startJan 2023 (estimated)
- Primary completionMay 2024 (estimated)
- Study completionJun 2024 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (5)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for HealthyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Sequential
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 1,400 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- UCL University College, Denmark
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Tine Nielsen, UCL University College, Denmark
- Investigators
- Morten R petersen, PhD, Study director, UCL University college
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05559294
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- STB Trial 9012102
- Status last verified
- Sep 2022
- First submitted
- 21 Sep 2022
- Last updated
- 29 Sep 2022
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: IPD will be shared on request and will consist of the primary outcome data as well as secondary measures and background information, as necessary to re-analyse.
Publications
Clarke D, Hollingsworth H. Elaborating a model of teacher professional growth. Teaching and teacher education. 2002; 18(8): 947-967.
Dewey J. Interest and effort in education.1913. Boston, MA, US: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
Francis LJ, Greer JE. Measuring Attitude Towards Science Among Secondary School Students: the affective domain. Research in Science & Technological Education. 1999; 17(2): 219-226.
Kosovich JJ, Hulleman CS, Barron KE, Getty S. A Practical Measure of Student Motivation: Establishing Validity Evidence for the Expectancy-Value-Cost Scale in Middle School. The Journal of Early Adolescence. 2015; 35(5-6):790-816.
Oon P-T, Hu BY, We B. Early childhood educators' attitudes toward science teaching in Chinese schools. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 2019; 44(4): 423-435.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 29 Sep 2022. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Effect of Professional Development in Science for Early Childhood Education and Care Staff
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05559294
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STB Trial 9012102
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Keywords
- Early childhood education and care, Early childhood educators, Self-efficacy for science, Attitudes toward science, Engagement with science, Professional development, Science capital
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Unknown status
- Enrolment
- 1,400 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- UCL University College, DenmarkUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research
- Study start
- Jan 2023 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- May 2024 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Jun 2024 (estimated)
- First posted
- 29 Sep 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This trial is a randomized controlled trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a nine-month-long professional development program to improve early childhood educators' and carers' self-efficacy for science approaches, engagement with science, and attitudes toward science in early childhood education and care (ECEC).
Detailed description
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff often struggle in working with science with small children, as the National Strengthened Pedagogical Curriculum (Ministry of Children and Education, 2020) is difficult to put into practice. Thus, they are challenged with regard to meeting the national objectives for this in this regard. A large-scale professional development program is developed and implemented to overcome this gap and to enhance ECEC staff's self-efficacy, engagement with, and attitudes toward science.
The intervention is developed by UCL teaching staff in collaboration with the municipality of Odense with the aim of offering all children in Odense municipality's ECEC program a playful and investigative approach to science as defined in the national curriculum theme 'Nature, outdoor life and natural phenomena' by offering ECEC staff extensive professional development in this field. The professional development course will be delivered by UCL teaching staff from the area of early childhood education and care in two consecutive runs, each of nine months duration.
The professional development consists of a combination of three workshops and three e-learning modules. In between workshops and e-learning modules, the ECEC staff implement the content practically by working with science with the children, while receiving supervision from a teacher from the professional development. The set-up is based on the model of teacher professional growth (Clark \& Hollingsworth, 2002). The aim of the professional development program is that ECEC staff becomes able to construct and enhance science-oriented learning environments, thus providing the children with educative experiences with science (Dewey, 1913). The aim of the trial is to assess the effectiveness of the intervention to improve early childhood educators' and carers' self-efficacy for science approaches, engagement with science, and attitudes toward science in early childhood education.
The study is a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). A total of approximately 1400 ECEC staff will be randomized to the professional development in the first run or Education and Care as Usual (ECAU). The ECAU group in the first run will receive the intervention in a second run once the first run is completed.
Participants are ECEC staff in pedagogical positions (i.e. pedagogues, assistants, assistant teachers, and daily leaders) employed in a combined nursery and kindergarten in Odense municipality. Participants must be able to fill out questionnaires in Danish.
Data will be collected at baseline (pre-intervention), after 4.5 months (midway), and 9 months after baseline, when the intervention is completed.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Sequential
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Professional development | Experimental | Behavioral: Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for ScienceThe intervention consists of a nine months long professional development program with an interchange between three e-learning modules and three group workshops starting with an e-learning module and ending with a workshop. Each workshop is 3 hours with approximately 100 participants. The e-learning modules are completed individually by ECEC staff. Between workshops, each day nursery and/or kindergarten center will receive a two-hour supervisory visit from UCL staff to support professional development. The daily leader at the day nursery and/or kindergarten center sets the theme for each supervisory visit to enhance development as much as possible. The intervention is being designed as a collaboration between UCL and Odense municipality |
| Usual professional development | Active comparator | Behavioral: Education and care as Usual (ECAU)Education and Care as Usual entails a standing offer from the municipality of Odense for Usual Competence development within the area of nature, outdoor life and natural phenomena visits from a learning consultant to support the ECEC staff's work with digital technology at the day nursery and/or kindergarten center. It is up to the day nursery and/or kindergarten center if the use the offer or not. This offer is extended to all day nursery and/or kindergarten centers. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 70 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Adults employed in a day nursery and/or kindergarten center in the municipality of Odense at the start of the intervention
- Employed in one of four pedagogical positions: pedagogues [pædagoger], assistants [pædagogiske assistenter], assistant teachers [pædagogmedhjælpere], and daily leaders [dalig leder]
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Employed in other positions than the four above in a day nursery and/or kindergarten center
- "at home child carers" [dagpleje]
- Not able to fill out questionnaires in Danish
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for ScienceA nine-month program consisting of three e-learning modules and three group workshops | Behavioural | Professional development |
| Education and care as Usual (ECAU)Active control | Behavioural | Usual professional development |
Primary outcome
Change in Self-efficacy for science approach at 4.5 months
Time frame: Baseline, 4,5 months
Self-Efficacy for Science Approach (SESA) in early childhood educators and carers. The scale will be developed for purpose with a basis in the National Strengthened Pedagogical Curriculum prior to baseline. Rasch measurement models will be used for validation, including analyses of differential item functioning to ensure that the two groups of staff in the RCT can be compared unbiased. The resulting scale will consist of approximately 15 items (score range 0-60) and have sufficient reliability. Higher scores are better.
Change in Self-efficacy for science approach at 9 months
Time frame: Baseline, 9 months
Self-Efficacy for Science Approach (SESA) in early childhood educators and carers. The scale will be developed for purpose with a basis in the National Strengthened Pedagogical Curriculum prior to baseline. Rasch measurement models will be used for validation, including analyses of differential item functioning to ensure that the two groups of staff in the RCT can be compared unbiased. The resulting scale will consist of approximately 15 items (score range 0-60) and have sufficient reliability. Higher scores are better.
7 secondary outcomes
Science capital for professionals
Time frame: Baseline
Change in Attitudes toward science at 4.5 months
Time frame: Baseline, 4,5 months
Change in Attitudes toward science at 9 months
Time frame: Baseline, 9 months
Change in engagement with science in the work life at 4.5 months
Time frame: Baseline, 4,5 months, 9 months
Change in engagement with science in the work life at 9 months
Time frame: Baseline, 9 months
Motivation for professional development in science
Time frame: Baseline
science approach behaviors
Time frame: 9 months
Results and safety
Results are not available in the source record.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 29 Sep 2022.
- BackgroundClarke D, Hollingsworth H. Elaborating a model of teacher professional growth. Teaching and teacher education. 2002; 18(8): 947-967.
- BackgroundDewey J. Interest and effort in education.1913. Boston, MA, US: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
- BackgroundFrancis LJ, Greer JE. Measuring Attitude Towards Science Among Secondary School Students: the affective domain. Research in Science & Technological Education. 1999; 17(2): 219-226.
- BackgroundKosovich JJ, Hulleman CS, Barron KE, Getty S. A Practical Measure of Student Motivation: Establishing Validity Evidence for the Expectancy-Value-Cost Scale in Middle School. The Journal of Early Adolescence. 2015; 35(5-6):790-816.
- BackgroundOon P-T, Hu BY, We B. Early childhood educators' attitudes toward science teaching in Chinese schools. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 2019; 44(4): 423-435.
- the ESRC-funded ASPIRES study at University College LondonLink provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. IPD will be shared on request and will consist of the primary outcome data as well as secondary measures and background information, as necessary to re-analyse.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Morten R petersen, PhD study director
UCL University college
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Professional Development of Early Childhood Education and Care Staff for Science and Education and care as Usual (ECAU) in people with Healthy, run by UCL University College, Denmark at 1 site in Denmark.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Sep 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Denmark. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Results are not available in the source record.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Tine Nielsen, PhD (+4528449638, tini@ucl.dk), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in Self-efficacy for science approach at 4.5 months (time frame: Baseline, 4,5 months). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05559294, which also lists 5 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 29 Sep 2022.