Collaborative Research: Equitable Science Sensemaking: Helping Teacher Candidates Support Multiple Pathways for Learning

该项目旨在通过改善未来基础科学教师的本科教育来服务于国家利益。具体地说，该项目旨在帮助教师候选人以身临其境和平易近人的方式学习科学，进而支持他们制定公平的科学教学做法。针对教师候选人的学习活动将在方法课程中设计和实施，然后进行修改和重新评估。应聘教师还将设计自己的课程，并在同时进行的教学实践中使用。这些活动和课程将以科学观为基础，重视理科学生可能拥有的许多观点。通过设计和评估这些活动，该项目有可能增进对支持公平科学教学的理解，这对于扩大对STEM领域的参与非常重要。其他项目活动包括努力维持方法课程中建立的专业学习社区，通过出版物和演示文稿传播结果，并使教师教育人员在线社区可以访问课程材料和最新情况。该项目的总体目标是支持本科小学教师候选人学习科学和公平的科学教学。该项目计划通过为基础科学方法课程设计学习活动来实现这一目标，这些课程利用了项目组先前工作中的成功做法，包括身临其境的学习、协作规划和反思。活动将包括公平教学的资源，如反赤字通知和多元文化课程设计。该项目旨在追踪设计的活动如何支持教师候选人重新阐明什么是“科学”，制定公平的教学实践，以及设计邀请和重视多种了解方式的课程。在第一年，该项目旨在设计、实施和评估两所大学的学习活动：俄亥俄州立大学和范德比尔特大学。在第二年，该项目将根据教师候选人和咨询委员会的反馈重新设计学习活动。数据将包括学习活动的视频记录，方法课程中的文物，以及对参与者的采访。定性分析的方法将被用来评估教师候选人对科学的学习和对公平的科学教学实践的认识。重新设计的活动将与新的队列一起实施和评估。此外，该项目打算通过提供专业学习体验：视频俱乐部，参与者在其中分享和讨论他们的教学视频，来跟踪最初的参与教师候选人，超越他们的方法课程。教师候选人还将被邀请在会议上分享他们所学到的知识，建立致力于公平基础科学教学的基础教育工作者网络。进一步的传播努力包括教员会议演示文稿、出版物和可免费获得的“促进者指南”，这可能会培养一个用户社区。该项目得到了NSF IUSE：EHR计划的支持。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 interest by improving undergraduate education for future elementary science teachers. Specifically, the project aims to help teacher candidates learn about science in an immersive and approachable way that can, in turn, support their development of equitable science teaching practices. Learning activities for teacher candidates will be designed, implemented in methods courses, and then revised and re-evaluated. The teacher candidates will also design their own lessons and use them during their concurrent teaching practicum. These activities and lessons will be based on a view of science that values the many perspectives that science students could have. By designing and evaluating these activities, this project has the potential to enhance understanding about supporting equitable science teaching, which is important for broadening participation in STEM fields. Additional project activities include efforts to sustain the professional learning communities established in the methods courses, disseminate results through publications and presentations, and make curricular materials and updates accessible to an online community of teacher educators.The overall goal of this project is to support undergraduate elementary teacher candidates’ learning about science and equitable science teaching. The project plans to achieve this goal by designing learning activities for elementary science methods courses that leverage successful practices from the prior work of the project team, including immersive learning, collaborative planning, and reflection. Activities will include resources for equitable teaching, such as anti-deficit noticing and multicultural curriculum design. The project intends to trace how the designed activities support teacher candidates in rearticulating ideologies about what counts as “science,” developing equitable teaching practices, and designing curricula that invite and value multiple ways of knowing. In the first year, the project aims to design, implement, and evaluate learning activities with an initial cohort of teacher candidates across two universities: Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University. In the second year, the project will redesign learning activities based on feedback from teacher candidates and an advisory board. Data will include video recordings of learning activities, artifacts from methods courses, and interviews with participants. Qualitative analysis methods will be used to evaluate teacher candidates’ learning about science and about equitable science teaching practices. The redesigned activities will be implemented and evaluated with a new cohort. In addition, the project intends to follow the initial cohort of participating teacher candidates beyond their methods courses by offering professional learning experiences: video clubs in which participants share and discuss videos of their teaching. Teacher candidates will also be invited to share what they have learned at conferences, building networks of elementary educators committed to equitable elementary science teaching. Further dissemination efforts include faculty conference presentations, publications, and a freely available "Facilitator's Guide" that could foster a community of users. This project is supported by the NSF IUSE:EHR program. 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.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.