Collaborative Research: Research on Integrated STEM Self-Efficacy: A Study of Elementary Preservice Teachers including Noyce Scholars

该项目旨在满足国家支持高效小学（K-6）STEM教师发展和保留的需求。小学教师通常不愿意将科学、数学和工程作为独立学科进行教学，STEM整合带来了新的挑战。以前的研究已经探索了自信（或自我效能），教师有效性和教师保留之间的联系，但教学综合STEM（iSTEM）的自我效能在很大程度上是未探索的。该项目将包括大约700名教师谁经历了十个不同的教师准备计划。它旨在确定支持早期职业小学教师在高需求学区内教授综合STEM的自我效能的方案特征。它将研究自我效能，iSTEM教学效率和教师保留之间的关系。该项目的研究结果有可能为教师教育项目的设计提供信息，并可能有助于培养更高素质的小学STEM教师。该项目在南卫理公会大学、内布拉斯加大学-林肯分校、陶森大学和印第安纳州东南大学开展，包括与马萨诸塞州-波士顿大学、圣心大学、奥尔康州立大学、布里奇沃特州立大学、蒙特克莱尔州立大学和罗得岛大学。 项目目标包括：（1）跟踪未来小学教师从教师准备计划转向教学岗位时综合STEM教学自我效能感的变化;（2）识别并描述支持早期职业教师综合STEM教学自我效能感发展的教师教育关键要素;（3）识别综合STEM教学自我效能感、教学有效性和教师保留之间的关系;（4）建立和支持一个专注于改善STEM教学的小学教师社区。以自我效能理论为基础，本项目将采用顺序解释混合方法设计，包括本科生，硕士生和现任教师谁是在他们的第一个五年的教学。该项目的纵向设计，创新的重点综合STEM教学的自我效能和有效性，以及综合STEM教学自我效能和教师保留之间的联系的调查反映了其智力价值。研究结果将发表在研究和实践期刊上，并在国际会议上广泛分享，以影响研究人员，管理人员和教育工作者超出本项目的直接范围。这个轨道4：诺伊斯研究项目是通过罗伯特诺伊斯教师奖学金计划（诺伊斯）的支持。诺伊斯计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人士成为有效的K-12 STEM教师和经验丰富的模范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，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 aims to serve the national need of supporting the development and retention of highly effective elementary (K-6) STEM teachers. Elementary teachers are often uncomfortable teaching science, mathematics, and engineering as independent subjects, and STEM integration poses new challenges. Previous research has explored links between confidence (or self-efficacy), teacher effectiveness, and teacher retention, but self-efficacy for teaching integrated STEM (iSTEM) is largely unexplored. This project will include approximately 700 teachers who experienced ten different teacher preparation programs. It aims to identify programmatic features that support early career elementary teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching integrated STEM within high-need school districts. It will examine relationships among self-efficacy, iSTEM teaching effectiveness, and teacher retention. The findings that result from this project have the potential to inform the design of teacher education programs and may contribute to the development of more highly qualified elementary STEM teachers.This project at Southern Methodist University, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Towson University, and Indiana University Southeast includes partnerships with the University of Massachusetts - Boston, Sacred Heart University, Alcorn State University, Bridgewater State University, Montclair State University, and University of Rhode Island. Project goals include to: (1) track changes in prospective elementary teachers’ integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy as they shift from teacher preparation programs to teaching positions; (2) identify and describe key elements of teacher education that support the development of integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy among early-career teachers; (3) identify the relationships among integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy, teaching effectiveness, and teacher retention; and (4) build and support a community of elementary teachers focused on improving their STEM teaching. Grounded in self-efficacy theory, this project will use a sequential explanatory mixed methods design and include undergraduates, Master’s students, and current teachers who are within their first five years of teaching. The project’s longitudinal design, innovative focus on integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy and effectiveness, and investigation of links between integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy and teacher retention reflect its intellectual merit. Research findings will be published in research and practitioner journals and shared widely at international conferences to impact researchers, administrators, and educators beyond the immediate scope of this project. This Track 4: Noyce Research 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 effectiveness and retention 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.