Improving Secondary STEM Teacher Preparation for High-need Schools Through Diverse Teaching Experiences, Including Simulated Virtual Reality Classrooms

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This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing the number of highly effective secondary STEM teachers in Indiana’s high-need schools. Indiana has shortages of secondary teachers in mathematics and all science disciplines. The project aims to help fill this need by preparing biology, chemistry, and mathematics undergraduate majors to become secondary mathematics or science teachers in high-need schools. These prospective teachers will benefit from multiple experiences that help prepare them for teaching. For example, the project will use innovative, virtual reality simulations to expose future teachers to diverse teaching and learning environments, as well as to academic and behavioral complexities that exist in real classrooms. The COVID-19 public health crisis has imposed enormous challenges on institutes of higher education and teacher education programs that require classroom (field) experience. Advancements in virtual reality simulation training have the potential to meet this need, and in the process change how teachers are prepared in the United States. This targeted preparation is intended to increase prospective teachers’ self-efficacy before they begin in-person field experiences. Once the prospective teachers complete the teacher preparation program, the project will provide ongoing support so that the new teachers continue to be part of a professional community and are retained as STEM teachers in high-need schools.This project at Marian University includes partnerships with three Indiana education agencies: Decatur Township Schools, Indianapolis Public Schools. and Perry Township Schools. Over five years, the project will provide scholarship and academic support for twenty-two undergraduates pursuing a dual degree in secondary teaching and mathematics or science (biology or chemistry). Additional objectives of the project are to improve the preparation of these future teachers through a variety of high-quality clinical experiences, (e.g., instructional rounds, practice sessions, virtual simulations, service learning, clinical teaching, and intervention and assessments). It also intends to provide a suite of professional supports to increase the number of graduates who remain teaching in high-need schools. The intellectual merit of the project lies in examining the impact of simulated virtual reality environments on the self-efficacy and retention of math and science for prospective and practicing teachers. In addition to increasing the number of STEM educators prepared to teach in urban, high-need secondary schools, the project will advance the use of virtual reality simulations for teacher preparation, which has the potential to enhance and improve training of STEM educators and all educators across the United States. The project will examine the impact of simulated virtual reality environments versus other types of field experiences on the self-efficacy of participating prospective teachers, using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale and interviews. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.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.