Collaborative Research: Teacher Research Teams II: Expanding Pathways

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With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder) will partner with Front Range Community College, (FRCC, Boulder County campus). This Scholarships & Stipends Phase II project, Collaborative Research: Teacher Research Teams II: Expanding Pathways, will support up to 36 juniors/seniors/post-baccalaureate students who are majoring in mathematics, a science discipline, or engineering (or who have completed such a major), and who are preparing to teach secondary mathematics or science in a high-need district. Approximately 40% of the scholarship funds will be awarded to undergraduates who transfer to CU-Boulder from FRCC. Each Noyce Scholar will receive 1 or 2 years of scholarship support. Project activities include a Learning Assistant (LA) program, in which faculty members engage with selected undergraduates to think about how they might improve the experience and outcomes for enrolled students, and Teacher Research Team (TRT) experiences, in which prospective teachers (Noyce Scholars), experienced and novice teachers, teacher educators, and prospective teacher educators (education graduate students) discuss and plan research, practice, assessment, and curriculum.Building on prior work, the project will (a) develop a LA program at FRCC, which will provide early teaching opportunities to two-year college STEM students; (b) expand the Noyce Scholarship program to include FRCC students who transfer to CU-Boulder; and (c) leverage the TRT experience as a mechanism for teacher preparation, novice teacher induction, and professional development of teachers. Research focused on the two-year to four-year college pathway will address the following questions: (1) To what extent does having an LA experience at FRCC increase transfer to CU-Boulder and completion of a STEM degree at CU-Boulder? What factors of the FRCC LA program influence students' decisions to transfer to and complete a STEM degree at CU-Boulder? (2) After students transfer to CU-Boulder, to what extent does participating in another LA experience or TRT lead to enrollment and completion in the CU-Teach licensure program? What factors of these experiences at CU-Boulder influence students' decisions to pursue K-12 STEM teaching?