ITEST Study: Promoting STEM Career Interest in the Classroom: An Exploratory Study Linking Teacher Professional Development with Changes in Teaching Practices

课堂学生需要接触创新技术(IT)，以更好地匹配当今的计算机素养技能和应用程序-S工作场所。NSF资助的ITEST教师专业发展项目通过帮助教师有效地将基于真实世界的IT调查融入K-12课程来满足这一需求。这项ITEST研究将通过使用两个教师角色模型来考察ITEST教师教育项目导致课堂实践的变化的方式：作为教学专家的教师(使用现有基于技术的课程的教师，无论是否进行调整)和作为课程开发者的教师(创建新课程的教师)。本研究将在信息技术教与学的背景下探讨这两种模式。具体地说，我们想要了解什么样的专业发展活动促进和/或影响教学实践的变化和创新技术在课堂上的整合。我们将解决以下研究问题：1)在教师专业发展项目中，让参与者沉浸在专业IT体验中的两种教师角色模式(课程开发者或教学专家)有什么特点？2)对于已经和没有完成IT沉浸式专业发展经验的教师，IT课堂实施是否有所不同，以及差异(如果有的话)是否因模型而异？研究设计包括对当前和过去的ITEST专业发展活动的回顾(调查/与项目负责人和项目人工制品的访谈)，对来自ITEST教师教育项目的教师参与者的广泛调查，以及对ITEST教师参与者和比较教师的子集的深入研究，以跟踪一个学年的课堂实施情况。该项目是教育发展中心(EDC，Inc.)、TERC和马里兰大学环境科学中心的合作项目，这三个中心都在NSF ITEST计划方面拥有丰富的经验。

Classroom students need to engage with innovative technologies (IT) in ways that better match computer literacy skills and applications in today?s workplace. The NSF-funded ITEST teacher professional development projects address this need by helping teachers effectively integrate real-world IT-based investigations into K-12 curriculum. This ITEST Study will examine the ways that ITEST teacher education projects lead to changes in classroom practice by using two teacher-role models to examine technology-based professional development and related changes in teaching practices: Teacher as Pedagogical Expert (teachers using existing technology-based curriculum with or without adaptations) and Teacher as Curriculum Developer (teachers creating new curriculum). The study will explore these two models within the context of IT teaching and learning. Specifically, we want to understand what kinds of professional development activities promote and/or influence changes in teaching practices and the integration of innovative technologies in the classroom. We will address the following research questions: 1) What are the characteristics of the two teacher-role models (curriculum developer or pedagogical expert) in teacher professional development projects that immerse participants in professional IT experiences? and 2) Does IT classroom implementation differ for teachers who have and have not completed an IT-immersion professional development experience and does the difference (if any) vary by model?The research design includes a review of current and past ITEST professional development activities (surveys/interviews with project leaders and project artifacts), a broad survey of teacher participants from ITEST teacher education projects, and an in-depth study of a subset of ITEST teacher participants and comparison teachers to trace classroom implementation over an academic year. This project is a collaboration between Education Development Center (EDC, Inc.), TERC and University of Maryland Center of Environmental Science, all of which have extensive experience with the NSF ITEST program.