Impact of Professional Development Programs on Future STEM Faculty: A Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Study

转变本科生STEM教育的一个关键是更好地为博士生做好准备，他们将成为STEM教师，发挥他们作为教师和导师的重要作用。在过去的十年中，投入了大量的时间和资源来开发许多与教学相关的专业发展计划，旨在加强研究型大学的传统博士培训。然而，人们对这些计划的有效性知之甚少。这项研究正在探索研究生和本科教育的一个关键但未被充分研究的关键节点：为未来的教师做好准备，使他们成为本科生的关键角色，这些本科生将成为下一代科学家、工程师、数学家以及科学和数学教师。这个第三阶段的项目是在国家科学基金会资助的研究、教学和学习一体化中心(CIRTL)支持的四年研究的基础上进行的。这是一项为期5年的多机构研究，旨在研究未来教师专业发展(FFPD)对STEM博士生及其职业生涯早期表现的短期和长期影响。这项研究解决了六个研究问题：(1)FFPD项目的一般特征是什么，哪些特征与参与者的积极和消极结果最相关？(2)FFPD参与者与非参与者有什么区别，什么鼓励和阻止他们参与？(3)FFPD项目能帮助博士生为不同的学术生涯做好准备？(4)参加FFPD项目对STEM博士选择的职业类型有什么影响？(5)参加FFPD对早期职业表现指标有影响吗？(6)博士生必须在FFPD上进行多大程度的投资，这项研究采用纵向混合方法设计，对来自三所研究型大学的两组STEM博士生进行了五年的跟踪调查。一组参加了FFPD项目的博士生将接受总共三次面试：在他们的博士课程结束时；在他们第一份学术工作后不久；以及在他们工作的第三年。第二组由大量随机选择的STEM博士生样本组成，包括FFPD参与者和非参与者，将在研究的第一年和第五年进行调查。

One key to transforming undergraduate STEM education is better preparation of doctoral students who will become STEM faculty for their essential role as teachers and mentors. Over the past decade, significant time and resources have been invested in the development of numerous teaching-related professional development programs aimed at enhancing traditional doctoral training at research universities. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these programs. This research study is exploring a critical yet understudied juncture of graduate and undergraduate education: the preparation of future faculty for their pivotal role as teachers of undergraduates who will become the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and science and math teachers. This Phase III Project is building on four years of research supported by the NSF-funded Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). It is a 5-year, multi-institutional study that is examining the short- and long-term effects of future-faculty professional development (FFPD) on STEM doctoral students and their early-career performance. The study is addressing six research questions: (1) What are the general characteristics of FFPD programs, and which characteristics are most strongly correlated with positive and negative participant outcomes? (2) What characteristics distinguish FFPD participants from non-participants, and what encourages and discourages participation? (3) What do doctoral students gain from FFPD programs that helps prepare them for diverse academic careers? (4) What influence does participation in FFPD programs have on the kinds of careers that STEM PhDs choose? (5) Does participation in FFPD have impact on indicators of early career performance? (6) What degree of investment in FFPD must a doctoral student make, and for what length of time, to receive modest but significant benefits?The study is using a longitudinal mixed-methods design that is following two groups of STEM doctoral students from three research universities over five years. One group of doctoral students who have participated in FFPD programs will be interviewed a total of three times: at the end of their doctoral program; soon after taking their first academic job; and in the third year of their job. A second group comprised of a large randomly-selected sample of STEM doctoral students including both FFPD participants and non-participants will be surveyed in Years 1 and 5 of the study.