Improving the STEM Preparation of K-5 Pre-service Teachers through a Project-based, Interdisciplinary Approach

通过基于项目的跨学科方法提高 K-5 职前教师的 STEM 准备

• 批准号: 2111261
• 负责人: Carrie Tzou
• 金额: $ 188.13万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2025-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2111261&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; STEM; Preparation; Pre; service

The elementary teacher workforce is predominantly female and white, even though the K-12 student population is becoming increasingly diverse. Research shows elementary teachers take few college courses in physics, chemistry, and engineering, and only one third have had coursework in all the areas of science they will teach. Furthermore, elementary teachers do not feel well-prepared to engage students in the practices of science, or provide science instruction based on students' ideas, or to incorporate students' cultural backgrounds into science instruction. To address these issues, this project aims to serve the national interest by diversifying the elementary teaching workforce and preparing elementary science teachers to teach across the breadth of science disciplines that are addressed in elementary science. Moreover, the project seeks to connect scientific questions to underlying socio-economic issues that can motivate student learning and take advantage of students' cultural ways of knowing. Towards these ends this project aims to co-design a two-quarter undergraduate course sequence that engages prospective elementary school teachers in a project-based course of study featuring interdisciplinary science content. The course sequence will incorporate contemporary issues, science and engineering practices, and the ethics ("should we"? vs "can we"?) of science, all situated within the economic, social, and political contexts in which science and science decision-making always live. The project foregrounds content that highlights the ways in which science has been used as both a means of oppression of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) and as a tool for advancement. The design of the two-quarter sequence will satisfy both elementary certification science content prerequisites and general "natural world" graduation requirements for undergraduates at the University of Washington Bothell (UWB). An online version of the course of study for any undergraduate student and prospective elementary certification students and a version of the courses for community colleges are also intended. Ultimately, the project expects to produce a generalizable model for use in other contexts.A team of learning scientists specializing in equity-focused science education and science faculty from across life, physical, and earth sciences are collaborating to co-design four learning modules (two 5-week modules each quarter) for undergraduate students. The project uses a mixed methods (surveys, exit tickets, interviews, observations) approach for understanding student and faculty learning, as well as a longitudinal study of pre-service teachers from an initial cohort into their first year of teaching. Design-Based Research, wherein a project engages in iterative cycles of design, implementation, research, and re-design, is being used in this study. The project expects to engage 35 students in the first iteration of the study, and then 70 students for two years in the two-quarter sequence after the course sequence is redesigned. Of those 70 students, approximately 50 will become elementary pre-service teachers who will enter UWB’s elementary teacher certification program. Seventy students per year are expected to take the online courses and 35 practicing teachers per year are intended to participate in the summer summits. In addition to the materials developed through this project, the principal investigators will research three questions. (1) What shifts in science content learning, identities, and understandings of science/science pedagogy occur in undergraduate pre-service teachers as a result of the new course sequence? (2) What shifts in science pedagogy occur in university faculty as a result of engaging in the co-design of the courses? (3) What are essential design principles and practices of this model of co-design and implementation that can be disseminated to wider audiences and contexts? The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship (Noyce) Program is providing co-funding for this IUSE: EHR project to support the project's pre-service teacher preparation goals, which are well-aligned with Noyce Program goals.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.

小学教师队伍主要是女性和白色，即使K-12学生人口越来越多样化。研究表明，小学教师很少参加物理，化学和工程方面的大学课程，只有三分之一的人在他们将要教授的所有科学领域都有课程。此外，小学教师没有做好充分准备，让学生参与科学实践，或根据学生的想法提供科学教学，或将学生的文化背景纳入科学教学。为了解决这些问题，该项目旨在通过使小学教师队伍多样化，并使小学科学教师能够在小学科学所涉及的科学学科的范围内进行教学，从而为国家利益服务。此外，该项目力求将科学问题与潜在的社会经济问题联系起来，以激励学生学习，并利用学生的文化知识方式。为了这些目的，这个项目的目的是共同设计一个两个季度的本科课程序列，从事未来的小学教师在一个基于项目的课程学习具有跨学科的科学内容。课程顺序将包括当代问题，科学和工程实践，以及道德（“我们应该”？vs“我们能吗”？）所有这些都位于科学和科学决策始终存在的经济、社会和政治背景之下。该项目突出强调了科学被用作压迫黑人，土著和其他有色人种（BIPOC）的手段以及作为进步工具的方式。四分之二序列的设计将满足基本认证科学内容的先决条件和一般的“自然世界”的毕业要求，本科生在华盛顿博瑟尔大学（UWB）。还打算为任何本科生和潜在的小学认证学生提供在线版本的学习课程，并为社区学院提供课程版本。最终，该项目预计将产生一个可推广的模型，用于在其他context.A学习的科学家团队专注于公平为重点的科学教育和科学教师从生命，物理和地球科学合作，共同设计四个学习模块（每季度两个5周的模块）为本科生。该项目采用混合方法（调查，退出门票，访谈，观察）的方法来了解学生和教师的学习，以及从最初的队列到他们的第一年教学的职前教师的纵向研究。基于设计的研究，其中一个项目参与设计，实施，研究和重新设计的迭代周期，正在使用本研究。该项目预计在第一次迭代的研究中将有35名学生参与，然后在课程序列重新设计后，在两个季度的序列中有70名学生参与两年。在这70名学生中，大约50名将成为小学职前教师，他们将进入UWB的小学教师认证项目。预计每年有70名学生参加在线课程，每年有35名实习教师参加夏季峰会。除了通过本项目开发的材料外，主要研究人员还将研究三个问题。(1)科学内容的学习，身份和理解的科学/科学教学法发生在本科职前教师作为新的课程序列的结果是什么变化？(2)大学教师参与课程的共同设计会导致科学教学法发生什么变化？(3)这种共同设计和实施模式的基本设计原则和做法是什么，可以传播给更广泛的受众和背景？NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过学生的学习轨道，该计划支持创建，探索和实施有前途的做法和工具。罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金（Noyce）计划为IUSE：EHR项目提供共同资助，以支持该项目的职前教师准备目标，该目标与诺伊斯计划目标保持一致。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。