Building the Capacity of Future Teachers through Authentic Research Experiences Involving Data Analytics

该项目旨在服务于培养具有数据科学知识的高效STEM教师的国家需求。由于数据驱动的发现在科学和工程教育和研究的所有领域都是高度优先的，未来的STEM专业人员，包括今天的学生，将需要能够收集和分析数据来解决问题。为了帮助学生在数据密集型社会中茁壮成长，教师本身需要机会发展自己的技能和对数据科学和科学研究的理解。为了满足这一需求，该项目将邀请未来的STEM中学教师参加与数据科学的生物学应用有关的指导暑期研究经验。伴随着研究经验，将会有一个专业发展计划。这一职业发展计划将旨在增加教学和教学知识。它还旨在发展交流技能和结合丰富的经验，以说明和强调如何应用研究来培养未来教师的能力，以便将研究和其他以探究为基础的学习纳入课堂。通过为未来的教师提供与数据分析相关的第一手研究经验，该项目有可能提高与数据科学相关的STEM教学质量，并有助于教师的满意度和留存。休斯敦贝勒医学院的这个项目包括与休斯顿大学、休斯顿克里湖大学和德克萨斯州教育局区域4服务中心的教师准备项目的合作。该项目将每年让6名未来的STEM中学教师沉浸在与生命科学数据挖掘和分析有关的真实研究体验中，在三年内总共有18名参与者。该项目有四个基本目标。一个主要的项目目标是让这些未来的教师获得真实的研究经验，包括各种数据分析方法，以调查神经科学以及分子和细胞生物学的问题。第二个目标是纳入相应的专业发展机会，旨在扩大研究经验，并使这些有远见的STEM教师具备技能和理解力，将研究和专业发展经验带到他们未来的课堂上。第三个目标是评估项目组成部分对未来教师成长和准备的影响。为了实现该项目的第四个目标，项目成果将分发给其他研究人员和对改进和加强STEM职前教师培训感兴趣的机构。项目评估将包括研究研究经验和参与专业发展计划对参与者的影响，并将包括完成项目课程、分析反思期刊条目、评估科学认同感和科学教学效率、以及与合作研究人员和主办机构继续参与的结果。项目成果将通过与项目合作者的交流、在同行审查的期刊上发表文章、在地方和国家会议上的介绍以及基于网络的战略来传播。诺伊斯职前教师研究经验项目由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金项目(Noyce)提供支持。Noyce计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人员成为有效的K-12 STEM教师，并支持经验丰富、模范的K-12教师成为高需求学区的STEM硕士教师。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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。

The project aims to serve the national need of developing highly effective STEM teachers with knowledge of data science. Since data driven discovery is a high priority across all areas of science and engineering education and research, future STEM professionals, including today’s students, will need to be able to gather and analyze data to solve problems. In order to help students to thrive in a data-intensive society, teachers themselves require opportunities to develop their own skills and understandings related to data science and scientific research. To meet this need, this project will engage prospective secondary STEM teachers in mentored summer research experiences related to biological applications of data science. Accompanying the research experiences will be a professional development program. This professional development program will be aimed at increasing pedagogical and content knowledge. It is also aimed at developing communication skills and incorporating enrichment experiences to illustrate and emphasize ways research can be applied to build prospective teachers' capacity to incorporate research and other inquiry-based learning in the classroom. By providing prospective teachers with firsthand research experiences involving data analytics, the project has potential to improve the quality of STEM teaching related to data science as well as to contribute to teachers’ satisfaction and retention.This project at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston includes collaborations with teacher preparation programs at University of Houston, University of Houston Clear Lake, and the Texas Education Agency Region 4 Service Center. The project will immerse six future secondary STEM teachers per year in authentic research experiences related to life sciences data mining and analysis, with a total of 18 participants over three years. The project has four fundamental goals. A primary project goal is for these prospective teachers to receive authentic research experiences involving a variety of data analytical approaches to investigate questions from neuroscience as well as molecular and cellular biology. A second goal is to incorporate accompanying professional development opportunities designed to expand the research experiences and to equip these perspective STEM teachers with the skills and understanding to bring research and professional development experiences to their future classrooms. A third goal is to evaluate the impact of project components on prospective teachers’ growth and preparation. To meet the project's fourth goal, project outcomes will be disseminated to other investigators and institutions interested in improving and enhancing STEM pre-service teacher preparation. Project evaluation will include studying the impact of the research experiences and engagement in the professional development program on the participants, and will include information from completion of the project's curriculum, analysis of reflective journal entries, assessment of science identity and science teaching efficacy, and results emanating from continued engagement with partnering researchers and the host institution. Project results will be disseminated through communications with project collaborators, publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations at local and national meetings, and web-based strategies. This Noyce Research Experiences for Pre-Service Teachers 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 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.