Building Pathways for Hispanic Community College Students to Become STEM Teachers Through Mentoring and Experiential Learning

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）计划，这个轨道2项目旨在使更多的本科STEM学生有兴趣从事STEM教学职业。 加州的教师短缺在南加州是严重的，在那里它特别影响到高贫困，高少数民族的K-12区。这些地区需要更多拥有STEM学位和教学证书的高素质STEM教师，特别是在高中。 这些教室还面临着教师和学生人口统计之间的差距不断扩大，这可能会影响学生的学习和成功。该项目将为本科生提供在非正式科学机构哥伦比亚纪念航天中心的带薪实习机会。 在实习之前和实习期间，学生将由已经完成专业发展的大学STEM教师指导，以帮助他们磨练指导技能。 这些活动旨在解决两个区域需求：1）招募和留住那些正在获得STEM学位和STEM中学单科教学证书的HSI学生; 2）扩大STEM教学和STEM劳动力的参与。 教师们经常报告说，他们是被积极的教学经验吸引到教师职业中来的。因此，本项目旨在为学生提供这样的经验。 在学院培训后，学生实习生将有教学经验，包括促进实地考察和其他学习经验，在哥伦比亚纪念航天中心。 因为至少70%的学生在学院是西班牙裔，大多数学生参加实习也将是西班牙裔。 项目的预期成果包括至少3，000名K-12学生的外展，最多60名本科生实习生的带薪实习，以及参与教师的指导技能的提高。项目研究计划旨在促进对非正式STEM教育环境中带薪实习的有效性的理解，以吸引学生（特别是西班牙裔学生）进入中学STEM教学职业。该项目将解决三个研究问题：1）在何种程度上做项目的不同元素（招聘，导师，实习等）。有助于社区大学学生追求STEM学位，并使学生认为中学教学是一个可行的STEM相关职业？2)该项目以何种方式促进学生作为STEM学习者和STEM教师的身份发展？3)学生在实习期间作为非正式科学教育工作者的经验在多大程度上支持科学教学和交流的有效实践的发展？该项目将采用混合方法，采用研究工具，包括焦点小组，调查，学术记录和有效的研究工具。到三年资助期结束时，该计划预计将实现30%（18名学生）增加学院的中学教师准备途径，这些学生将同时攻读STEM学位，并打算获得STEM学科的单科教学证书。 HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，并建立HSI的能力。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。该奖项反映了NSF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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this Track 2 project aims to make more undergraduate STEM students interested in pursuing careers in STEM teaching. California's teacher shortage is acute in Southern California, where it has especially affected high-poverty, high-minority K-12 districts. These districts need many more, highly qualified STEM teachers with STEM degrees and teaching credentials, particularly in high schools. These classrooms also face a widening gap between faculty and student demographics, which can affect student learning and success. This project will provide undergraduates with paid internships at an informal science institution, the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Before and during their internship, the students will be mentored by college STEM faculty who have completed professional development to help them hone their mentoring skills. These activities are designed to address two regional needs: 1) recruiting and retaining students from HSIs who are on track to achieve a STEM degree and a STEM secondary single-subject teaching credential; and 2) broadening participation in STEM teaching and the STEM workforce. Teachers often report that they were drawn to the teaching profession by a positive teaching experience. Thus, this project intends to provide students with such an experience. After training at the College, student interns will have teaching experiences that include facilitating field trips and other learning experiences at the Columbia Memorial Space Center. Because at least 70% of the students at the college are Hispanic, most students participating in the internship will also be Hispanic. The expected project deliverables include outreach to at least 3,000 K-12 students, paid internships for up to 60 undergraduate interns, and improved mentoring skills in participating faculty.The project research plan is designed to advance understanding of the effectiveness of paid internships in informal STEM education settings to attract students (particularly Hispanic students) into secondary-STEM teaching professions. The project will address three research questions: 1) To what extent do the different elements of the project (recruitment, mentors, internship, etc.) contribute to community college students’ pursuit of STEM degrees and students’ perception of secondary school teaching as a viable STEM-related career? 2) In what ways does the project contribute to the development of students’ identity as both a STEM learner and STEM teacher? 3) To what extent do students’ experiences as informal science educators during the internship support the development of effective practices for science teaching and communication? The project will use a mixed methods approach, employing research tools that include focus groups, surveys, academic records, and validated research instruments. By the end of its three-year funding period, the program expects to achieve a 30% (18 student) increase in the College’s secondary teacher preparation pathway and that these students will be both pursuing STEM degrees and intending to receive a single-subject teaching credential in a STEM discipline. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.