Noyce Capacity Building Project: STEM Teach VI

在这项能力建设奖学金项目STEM Teach VI中，维尔京群岛大学正在建立课程框架和机构合作，以支持STEM专业学生成为高中科学教师的培训。维尔京群岛非常需要这样一个项目。学生在科学和数学熟练程度测试中的表现表明，这些领域的教育落后于美国许多其他地区。为了弥补这一需求，维尔京群岛大学正在创建一个新的教师培训项目。教育学院、科学与数学学院和文理与社会科学学院的教师已经确定了现有的课程，并开设了新的课程，以补充未来教师的专业研究，提供所需的理论和实践教育培训。最有趣的是，STEM Teach VI的支持者认识到，该计划的各个方面必须与维尔京群岛的文化和背景独特性有关，因此他们正在研究影响高中生和未来教育工作者学习的特定地点因素。Noyce学者不仅从STEM专业的学生中招募，而且从对STEM和教育事业非常感兴趣的学生中招募。该项目不仅解决了对准备充分的科学和数学教师的严重需求，还服务于在STEM学科中代表性严重不足的人群：81%的人口是非洲裔美国人，15%是西班牙裔美国人。一旦两年的规划期完成，这些结构将到位，以支持一个充满活力和前瞻性的STEM教师培训计划。

In this Capacity-Building Noyce Scholarship Program, STEM Teach VI, the University of the Virgin Islands is establishing the curricular framework and institutional collaborations to support training of STEM majors to become high-school science teachers. The Virgin Islands has great need for such a program. Student performance on tests of proficiency in science and mathematics shows that education in these areas lags behind many other regions of the United States. In preparing to remedy that need, the University of the Virgin Islands is creating a new teacher preparation program. Faculty in the School of Education, the College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science have identified existing courses and established new ones to supplement the major studies of future teachers with the needed theoretical and practical education training. Most interesting, STEM Teach VI proponents recognize that aspects of the program must relate to the cultural and contextual uniqueness of the Virgin Islands, so they are studying the site-specific factors that influence learning both for the high school students and future educators. Noyce Scholars are recruited early in their academic careers not only from STEM majors but also from students strongly interested in STEM and education careers. Not only does this project address a serious need for well prepared science and mathematics teachers, it also serves a population dramatically underrepresented in the STEM disciplines: 81% of the population is African American and 15% is Hispanic. Once the two-year planning period is complete, the structures will be in place to support a dynamic and forward-looking program for STEM teacher preparation.