Opening Pathways into Engineering Through an Illinois Physics and Secondary Schools Partnership

该项目将进行研究和教师专业发展（PD），以调整大学水平的教学材料，供高中教师在其物理课程中实施。在高中接受高质量的高级物理教学，可以为学生获得大学STEM学位开辟道路，为他们应对本科物理课程面临的挑战做好准备。然而，在全国范围内，获得这种高级物理教学的机会并不普遍，特别是在农村、城市和低收入服务地区，在这些地区，教师的教学资源可能更为有限，物理教师孤立、准备不足和校外教学最为常见。伊利诺伊州物理和中学（IPaSS）合作项目通过将来自不同学校背景的伊利诺伊州高中物理教师聚集在一起，参与围绕大学水平教学材料构建的密集PD体验，回应了学生访问方面的这些差异。该项目将帮助教师适应、采用和整合高质量的、与大学相匹配的物理教学，从而为学生进入STEM教育和职业生涯开辟更公平、清晰和可行的途径。IPaSS合作项目让伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校的教育研究人员、大学物理教师和教师专业发展人员与在职高中物理教师合作，调整大学物理课程和教学法，以适应他们高中课堂的环境。该项目将调整伊利诺伊大学本科物理课程的两个关键组成部分，以供高中使用：(1)使用基于网络的“翻转”平台smartPhysics，该平台包含在线预习课程、预习实验和作业；(2)利用iOLab无线实验室系统，利用以科学技能发展为目标的研究型物理实验室活动，iOLab无线实验室系统是一种紧凑的设备，包含数百个物理实验室所需的所有传感器，具有支持快速数据收集和分析的接口。该项目采用两个PD元素来支持持续深入的教师参与：(1)在项目结束时，教师队伍逐步扩大到40人，承担一系列物理教学任务，并与物理教学社区合作，为他们的特定课堂环境开发高级物理教学；(2)参与密集的夏季PD会议，包括每周与大学项目人员举行PD会议，这些项目人员重视教师在设计课程中的代理作用；教师之间形成持久的专业关系。IPaSS合作项目还解决了教师在适应AP物理标准变化时对指导、支持和资源的需求。最近修订的高中物理课程强调对核心物理原理和科学实践的深刻概念理解，将通过探究式的实验室工作来学习。计划中的研究将解决三个核心问题：(1)IPaSS如何影响教师的实践？(2)该计划是否鼓励学生熟练掌握物理知识，并在课程之外追求STEM主题？(3)大学课程的哪些方面必须适应高中课堂的结构，以最好地服务于高中学生群体？为了回答这些问题，将收集几个数据流：研究人员将收集教师全年的PD活动和课堂教学的教学文物和视频记录，以追踪教师的教学和教学发展。参与教师的学生将在物理课前和课后接受物理知识、态度和未来职业抱负的调查，对学生的小组作业进行录像，并收集学生的书面作业和成绩。最后，高中生将在毕业后接受关于STEM教育和职业轨迹的调查。该项目的结果将是伊利诺斯州物理教师社区，他们从事高级高中物理课程的持续发展，教师记录的这些课程适合一系列学校和课堂环境的例子，以及一套基于研究的PD原则，旨在支持学生未来的STEM机会和参与。探索研究K-12项目（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具（rmt），显著提高pre -12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）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工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will conduct research and teacher professional development (PD) to adapt university-level instructional materials for implementation by high school teachers in their physics courses. Access to high-quality, advanced physics instruction in high school can open pathways for students to attain university STEM degrees by preparing them for the challenges faced in gatekeeping undergraduate physics courses. Yet, across the nation, access to such advanced physics instruction is not universally available, particularly in rural, urban, and low-income serving districts, in which instructional resources for teachers may be more limited, and physics teacher isolation, under-preparation and out-of-field teaching are most common. The Illinois Physics and Secondary Schools (IPaSS) Partnership Program responds to these disparities in student access by bringing together Illinois high school physics teachers from a diverse set of school contexts to participate in intensive PD experiences structured around university-level instructional materials. This program will help teachers adapt, adopt, and integrate high-quality, university-aligned physics instruction into their classrooms, in turn opening more equitable, clear, and viable pathways for students into STEM education and careers. The IPaSS Partnership Program puts education researchers, university physics instructors, and teacher professional development staff at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U of I) in collaboration with in-service high school physics teachers to adapt university physics curricula and pedagogies to fit the context of their high school classrooms. The project will adapt two key components of U of I’s undergraduate physics curriculum for high school use by: (1) using a web-based “flipped” platform, smartPhysics, which contains online pre-lectures, pre-labs and homework and (2) using research-based physics lab activities targeting scientific skill development, utilizing the iOLab wireless lab system – a compact device that contains all sensors necessary for hundreds of physics labs with an interface that supports quick data collection and analysis. The program adopts two PD elements that support sustained, in-depth teacher engagement: (1) incremental expansion of the pool of teachers to a cohort of 40 by the end of the project, with a range of physics teaching assignments and work collaboratively with a physics teaching community to develop advanced physics instruction for their particular classroom contexts, (2) involvement in a combination of intensive summer PD sessions containing weekly PD meetings with university project staff that value teachers’ agency in designing their courses, and the formation of lasting professional relationships between teachers. The IPaSS Partnership Program also addresses needs for guidance, support and resources as teachers adapt to the shifts in Advanced Placement (AP) Physics standards. The recent revised high school physics curriculum that emphasizes deep conceptual understanding of central physical principles and scientific practices will be learned through the inquiry-based laboratory work. The planned research will address three central questions: (1) How does IPaSS impact teachers’ practice? (2) Does the program encourage student proficiency in physics and their pursuit of STEM topics beyond the course? (3) What aspects of the U of I curricula must be adapted to the structures of the high school classroom to best serve high school student populations? To answer these questions, several streams of data will be collected: Researchers will collect instructional artifacts and video recordings from teachers’ PD activities and classroom teaching throughout the year to trace the development of teachers’ pedagogical and instructional development. The students of participating teachers will be surveyed on their physics knowledge, attitudes, and future career aspirations before and after their physics course, video recordings of student groupwork will be made, and student written coursework and grades will be collected. Finally, high school students will be surveyed post-graduation about their STEM education and career trajectories. The result of this project will be a community of Illinois physics teachers who are engaged in continual development of advanced high school physics curricula, teacher-documented examples of these curricula suited for a range of school and classroom contexts, and a research-based set of PD principles aimed at supporting students’ future STEM opportunities and engagement.The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools (RMTs). 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 award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.