James Madison University EPIC (Expanding Pathways, Identity and Capacity) Science Education

詹姆斯麦迪逊大学的EPIC（扩大途径，身份和能力（EPIC）准备科学教师）项目，通过罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划资助的能力建设项目，通过为STEM本科生创造新的，更灵活的途径来满足对高素质中学科学教师的需求。该项目将：（一）通过为科学教师教育计划创建额外的课程入口，从而获得许可证，从而建立机构能力;（二）提供在本科生涯早期明确发展教学内容知识的经验;（三）招聘，保留和指导一个从事早期教学经验的副教授社区，以建立他们作为中学科学教师的身份;及（iv）增加参与非正式教学课程及非正式教学经验的学生人数。 从长远来看，该项目将导致一个训练有素的MAT候选人谁将准备进入劳动力作为中学科学教师的扩大池。（生物学，化学，地球科学/地质学和物理学）设在科学和数学学院，在行政部门的支持下，将开发两个额外的学分途径，导致科学教师执照，补充现有的计划在詹姆斯麦迪逊大学。 教学将侧重于通过早期教学经验开发的科学特定教学内容知识，针对理科中等教育学生的课程，以及由科学内容和教学法专家组成的教学辅导团队的指导。其他元素包括潜在的教师候选人的积极招聘，有针对性的科学学科内的建议，建立一个新生学习社区，提供暑期教学机会，并通过一个活跃的国家科学教师协会（NSTA）学生章在5年BA/BS/MAT计划建设社区。通过这些努力，提供早期的教学经验，社区建设和额外的课程途径，包括教练团队的指导，调查人员的目的是了解这些经验在科学教师身份的发展中发挥的作用，展示教学能力，中学科学教育学生的教学内容知识的建设，以及他们在严格的专业准备计划中的坚持。通过评估每个不同轨道的人口结果， 这些不同的经验在教师准备中的作用，无论是在发展教学内容的知识和生产的关键事件，导致科学教师身份的特点。数据将包括基于个案研究的定性和定量分析。

James Madison University's EPIC (Expanding Pathways, Identity and Capacity (EPIC) for Preparing Science Teachers) project, a Capacity Building project funded through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, addresses the demand for highly qualified secondary science teachers by creating new, more flexible pathways for STEM undergraduates to pursue teaching careers. The project will (i) build institutional capacity by creating additional curricular on-ramps for the science teacher education program leading to licensure; (ii) offer experiences that explicitly develop pedagogical content knowledge early in the undergraduate career; (iii) recruit, retain, and mentor a community of preservice teachers engaged in early teaching experiences that build their identity as secondary science teachers; and (iv) increase the number of students participating in the preservice teaching curriculum as well as informal teaching experiences. In the long term, the project will lead to an expanded pool of well-trained MAT candidates who will be prepared to enter the workforce as secondary science teachers.A team of faculty members representing the College of Education and the four science disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Earth science/Geology, and Physics) housed within the College of Science and Math, with the support of the Administration, will develop two additional credit-bearing pathways leading to science teacher licensure that supplement the existing program at James Madison University. Instruction will focus on science-specific pedagogical content knowledge developed through early teaching experiences, courses targeted at science secondary education students, and mentoring by instructional coaching teams consisting of both a science content and pedagogy expert. Additional elements include active recruiting of potential teacher candidates, targeted advising within the science disciplines, establishing a freshman learning community, offering summer teaching opportunities, and building community across the 5-year BA/BS/MAT program through an active National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) student chapter. Through these efforts to provide early teaching experiences, community building, and additional curricular pathways incorporating mentoring by coaching teams, the investigators aim to understand the role that these experiences play in the development of science teacher identity, demonstrating pedagogical competencies, the construction of pedagogical content knowledge of secondary science education students, and their persistence in a rigorous program of professional preparation. By assessing outcomes for populations following each distinct track, the role of these varied experiences in teacher preparation both in developing pedagogical content knowledge and producing critical incidents leading to science teacher identity will be characterized. Data will include qualitative and quantitative analysis based on individual case studies.