Transforming Scientific Practices to Promote Students Interest and Motivation in the Life Sciences: A Teacher Leadership Development Intervention

探索研究K-12计划(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高K-12学前班学生和教师在科学、技术、工程和数学方面的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发努力的基础上，这些研究和开发工作为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验证明。本项目将在地点、语言和文化的背景下，调查专业发展干预对生命科学内容教与学的影响。这项研究将使教师能够开发课程，允许学生设计解决对国家具有经济、文化和生态重要性的问题的解决方案。它将以教师领袖的出现为基础，他们的知识将超越生命科学的内容，包括帮助学生发展有意义的科学身份、理解经济可持续发展的文化价值以及买入环境管理原则的战略。将使用混合方法通过课堂观察协议、访谈、焦点小组和学生调查来获取教师和学生的数据。最终产品将包括一个精细化的教师领导力专业发展模式。该模式将作为培养教师领导的框架，同时促进处于更大国家背景下的代表不足的学生的学习。将通过开放源码在线平台、在国家和国际会议和大会上的正式和非正式陈述以及在能力建设科学、技术、经济和文化部门的媒体上发表出版物来传播该模式。

The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. This project will investigate the influence of a professional development intervention on the teaching and learning of content in the life sciences in the context of place, language, and culture. The research will enable teachers to develop lessons that will allow students to design solutions to problems of economic, cultural, and ecological importance to the state. It will build on the emergence of teacher leaders whose knowledge will extend beyond content in the life sciences to include strategies for helping students develop meaningful science identities, understand the cultural values of economic sustainability, and buy into the principles of environmental stewardship. A mixed methods approach will be used to capture data from teachers and students through classroom observation protocols, interviews, focus groups, and student surveys. The end products will include a refined teacher leadership professional development model. The model will serve as a framework for developing teacher leaders while promoting learning for underrepresented students situated within the larger state context. Dissemination of the model will occur through an open source online platform, formal and informal presentations at national and international meetings and conferences, and publications in capacity-building STEM media outlets.