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

本项目旨在通过改善未来小学科学教师的本科教育服务于国家利益。具体而言，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，从而支持他们发展公平的科学教学实践。教师候选人的学习活动将在方法课程中进行设计和实施，然后进行修改和重新评估。教师候选人还将设计自己的课程，并在他们的并行教学实习中使用它们。这些活动和课程将基于一种重视理科生可能拥有的多种观点的科学观。通过设计和评估这些活动，本项目有可能增进对支持公平科学教学的理解，这对于扩大STEM领域的参与非常重要。其他项目活动包括努力维持在方法课程中建立的专业学习社区，通过出版物和演讲传播结果，并向教师教育工作者的在线社区提供课程材料和更新。本课题的总体目标是支持本科小学教师候选人的科学学习和公平的科学教学。该项目计划通过设计基础科学方法课程的学习活动来实现这一目标，这些活动利用了项目团队先前工作中的成功实践，包括沉浸式学习、协作计划和反思。活动将包括公平教学的资源，例如反赤字注意和多元文化课程设计。该项目旨在追踪所设计的活动如何支持教师候选人重新阐明关于什么是“科学”的意识形态，发展公平的教学实践，以及设计邀请和重视多种认识方式的课程。在第一年，该项目旨在设计、实施和评估两所大学的教师候选人的学习活动：俄亥俄州立大学和范德比尔特大学。第二年，该项目将根据教师候选人和顾问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，方法课程的工件，以及对参与者的采访。定性分析方法将用于评估教师候选人的科学学习和公平的科学教学实践。重新设计的活动将在新的队列中执行和评估。此外，该项目还打算通过提供专业学习经验来跟踪最初一批参与的教师候选人，即视频俱乐部，参与者可以在其中分享和讨论他们的教学视频。教师候选人也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。进一步的传播工作包括教师会议演讲、出版物和免费提供的“引导者指南”，这可以促进用户社区的发展。本项目由美国国家科学基金会IUSE:EHR项目支持。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。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 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.