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

该项目将开展研究和教师专业发展（PD），以调整大学一级的教学材料，供高中教师在物理课程中使用。在高中获得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，为他们在守门本科物理课程中面临的挑战做好准备。然而，在全国范围内，获得这种先进的物理教学并不普遍，特别是在农村，城市和低收入服务区，其中教师的教学资源可能更加有限，物理教师孤立，准备不足和外地教学是最常见的。伊利诺伊州物理和中学（IPaSS）的合作伙伴计划响应这些学生访问的差距，汇集伊利诺伊州高中物理教师从一个不同的学校环境，参加围绕大学水平的教学材料结构密集的PD经验。该计划将帮助教师适应、采用高质量的、与大学一致的物理教学并将其整合到课堂中，从而为学生进入STEM教育和职业开辟更公平、清晰和可行的途径。IPaSS合作伙伴计划将教育研究人员，大学物理教师和伊利诺伊大学香槟分校（U of I）的教师专业发展人员与在职高中物理教师合作，以适应大学物理课程和教学法，以适应他们高中课堂的背景。该项目将通过以下方式调整I大学本科物理课程的两个关键组成部分，供高中使用：（1）使用基于网络的“翻转”平台smartPhysics，其中包含在线预讲座，预实验和家庭作业，以及（2）使用以科学技能发展为目标的基于研究的物理实验室活动，利用iOLab无线实验室系统-一个紧凑的设备，包含数百个物理实验室所需的所有传感器，其接口支持快速数据收集和分析。该计划采用两个PD元素，支持持续，深入的教师参与：（1）逐步扩大教师队伍，到项目结束时达到40人，承担一系列物理教学任务，并与物理教学社区合作，为他们特定的课堂环境开发先进的物理教学，（2）参与密集的夏季PD会议，包括每周与重视教师在课程设计中的作用的大学项目工作人员举行PD会议，并在教师之间形成持久的专业关系。IPaSS合作计划还解决了教师适应大学先修课程（AP）物理标准转变时对指导、支持和资源的需求。最近修订的高中物理课程强调对中心物理原理和科学实践的深刻概念理解，将通过基于探究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和追求STEM主题超越课程？(3)I课程的U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：研究人员将收集教学文物和录像从教师的PD活动和课堂教学全年跟踪教师的教学和教学发展。参与教师的学生将在他们的物理课程之前和之后进行调查，了解他们的物理知识，态度和未来的职业抱负，将制作学生小组活动的视频记录，并收集学生的书面课程和成绩。最后，高中生将在毕业后接受调查，了解他们的STEM教育和职业轨迹。该项目的结果将是伊利诺伊州物理教师谁是从事先进的高中物理课程，教师记录的例子，这些课程适合一系列学校和课堂环境的持续发展的社区，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。发现研究K-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具（RMT），显着提高学前班学生和教师的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12项目中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究以及为拟议项目提供理论和经验依据的先前研究和开发工作的基础上。该奖项反映了NSF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.