Developing an Interdisciplinary Urban Environmental Science Curriculum as a Recruitment Mechanism for Future STEM Teachers

该项目旨在满足国家的能力建设需求，为高需求学区培养高效、经认证的STEM教育工作者。 为了实现这一目标，该项目将为改善本科生进入STEM教学职业的招聘奠定基础。 该项目的一个创新组成部分是计划让学生参与市中心社区的生态研究。 这一城市环境科学部分预计将提供一个“生活实验室”，可以帮助学生看到科学与他们的日常生活的相关性。 它还将提供一种创新的方式来学习STEM概念，让入门级STEM课程的学生接触STEM教学的潜在职业，并激励未来的教师。 这个能力建设项目的成果将为未来的诺伊斯教师奖学金和津贴（轨道1）提案奠定基础。艾奥纳学院的这个项目包括与韦斯特切斯特社区学院和高需求的新罗谢尔学区的合作。该项目的长期目标是在纽约高需求学区增加高素质STEM教师的数量。 具体目标是：评估阻碍学生入学STEM教育的因素;与高需求学区和当地两年制学院建立招聘渠道;加强与当地学校的合作关系，以促进未来的实习教师安置;以及开发一个城市环境科学模块，将其纳入化学和生物学入门课程。 城市环境科学模块旨在成为一种跨学科的方法，以学生相关和有趣的方式教授STEM主题。因此，其他机构也可以实施或调整该模块，以实现类似的目标。 这个能力建设项目是通过罗伯特诺伊斯教师奖学金计划（诺伊斯）的支持。诺伊斯计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人士成为有效的K-12 STEM教师和经验丰富的模范K-12 STEM教师，成为高需求学区的STEM硕士教师。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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 need of building capacity to prepare highly effective, certified STEM educators for high-need school districts. To achieve this goal, the project will lay the foundation for improving recruitment of undergraduates into STEM teaching careers. An innovative component of the project is its plan to engage students in ecological studies specific to inner-city neighborhoods. This urban environmental science component is expected to provide a “living laboratory” that can help students see the relevance of science to their daily lives. It will also provide an innovative way to learn STEM concepts, to expose students in entry level STEM classes to potential careers in STEM teaching, and to inspire future teachers. The outcomes of this capacity building project will lay the foundation for a future Noyce Teacher Scholarships and Stipends (Track 1) proposal. This project at Iona College includes partnerships with Westchester Community College and the high-need New Rochelle School District. The project’s long-term goal is to increase the number of highly qualified STEM teachers in high-need school districts in New York. The specific aims are to: evaluate factors that impede student enrollment in STEM education; develop a recruitment pipeline with high-need school districts and local two-year colleges; enhance partnerships with local schools for future student teacher placements; and develop an urban environmental science module that will be integrated into introductory chemistry and biology courses. The urban environmental science module is intended to be an interdisciplinary approach for teaching STEM topics in a way that is relevant and interesting to students. Thus, the module may be implemented or adapted by other institutions to achieve similar goals. This Capacity Building project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.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.