Citizen Science: A Pathway to Increase and Diversify the STEM Teaching Force in Rural Georgia

该项目旨在通过培养高素质的STEM教师来服务于国家利益，这些教师可以采用独特的教学策略，以满足来自不同文化和背景的学生的需求。 项目领导将与格鲁吉亚西南部的学校和社区合作伙伴进行合作，在那里，贫困和不平等造成的区域挑战导致当地社区STEM教师的产量最低。有必要增加和多样化STEM教师管道，以满足未来的人员配置需求，并改善代表性不足的学生的STEM学习成果。该项目通过培养12名新的STEM教师并培训他们实施基于公民科学的创新STEM课程来满足这一需求。这样的课程包括从附近地区收集科学信息，并试图解决与当地社区的学生和其他公民的生活有关的问题。 新的STEM教师公民科学培训将联系三个关键的教学技能：（1）使用文化响应式教学，（2）将新的理解和知识与学生已经知道的知识联系起来，以及（3）在解决问题的过程中，创建将多个STEM领域的概念交织在一起的教学练习和课程。项目成果将有助于确定美国农村教育面临的最具挑战性的问题之一的解决方案：如何培养足够数量的STEM认证的少数民族教师，他们非常合格，愿意留在高需求的学校。 奥尔巴尼州立大学的学生中有70%以上是非洲裔美国人，因此有很大的潜力增加当地学校中非洲裔美国人STEM教师的数量。奥尔巴尼州立大学的这个项目包括与以下机构的合作：1）格鲁吉亚西南部的学区，特别是Doughnut、兰多夫和特雷尔; 2）美国农业部研究站（花生实验室）在道森，佐治亚州;和3）一个财团的非营利合作伙伴，包括奥尔巴尼公民权利研究所，Thronateeska遗产中心，弗林特河水族馆，和ChebrillPark。该项目的主要目标是增加和多样化西南格鲁吉亚学区的STEM教师管道。具体目标包括：（1）培训一批不同的STEM教师使用文化相关的教学法;（2）设计基于问题并专注于公民科学的课程模块;（3）提供系统和持续的入门支持;（4）培养STEM教师领导者。在为期5年的项目中，该项目将培养12名STEM教师，涉及多个STEM学科（例如，数学，物理，生物，化学），并支持他们从STEM后学士学位过渡到高素质的教师和教师领导者。该项目的智力价值包括对研究和实践的贡献，以建立多样化的STEM教师管道和更多的STEM识字公众。通过让高等教育及其学校系统合作伙伴参与公民科学，该项目旨在鼓励教师教育方案重新设计教学实践和课程，以利用他们将服务的教师候选人和学生的文化资产。该项目对公民科学的关注将把文化反应教学法、建构主义和综合学习的学习原则联系起来。该项目通过加强教师准备以应对代表性不足群体的挑战，直接解决STEM教师严重短缺的问题，特别是在农村地区。这个轨道2：教学奖学金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 interest by developing highly qualified STEM teachers who can adapt a unique blend of teaching strategies to meet the needs of students from different cultures and backgrounds. Project leadership will engage with schools and community partners in southwest Georgia, where regional challenges caused by poverty and inequity contribute to minimal production of STEM teachers from the local communities. There is a need to both grow and diversify the STEM teacher pipeline to meet future staffing demands and to improve STEM learning outcomes for underrepresented students. The project addresses this need by developing 12 new STEM teachers and training them to implement an innovative STEM curriculum based on Citizen Science. Such a curriculum involves collecting scientific information from nearby areas and attempting to solve problems that are relevant to the lives of the students and other citizens in those local communities. The new STEM teachers' training in Citizen Science will link three key teaching skills: (1) use of culturally responsive instruction, (2) connecting new understanding and knowledge to what students already know, and (3) creation of teaching exercises and lessons that interweave concepts from multiple STEM areas during the problem-solving process. Project outcomes will help to identify solutions to one of the most challenging issues facing rural education in America: how to produce adequate numbers of STEM-certified minority teachers who are exceptionally qualified and willing to stay in high-need schools. The student population at Albany State University is more that 70% African American, resulting in a strong potential for increasing the number of African American STEM teachers in local schools.This project at Albany State University includes partnerships with: 1) school districts in Southwest Georgia, specifically Dougherty, Randolph and Terrell; 2) the USDA Research Station (Peanut Lab) in Dawson, GA; and 3) a consortium of non-profit partners including The Albany Civil Rights Institute, Thronateeska Heritage Center, The Flint RiverQuarium, and Chehaw Park. The primary goal of the project is to increase and diversify the STEM teacher pipeline in southwest Georgia school districts. Specific objectives include: (1) train a cohort of diverse STEM teachers to use culturally relevant pedagogy; (2) design curricular modules that are problem based and focus on Citizen Science; (3) provide systematic and ongoing induction support; and (4) develop STEM teacher leaders. During the 5-year project, the project will produce 12 STEM teachers in multiple STEM disciplines (e.g., mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry), and support their transition from STEM post-baccalaureates to highly qualified teachers, and to teacher leaders. Intellectual merit of the project includes contributions to research and practice for building a diverse STEM teacher pipeline and a more STEM literate public. By engaging higher education and its school system partners in Citizen Science, this project intends to encourage teacher education programs to redesign instructional practices and curricula to draw upon the cultural assets of teacher candidates and students they will serve. The project's focus on Citizen Science will link the learning principles of culturally responsive pedagogy, constructivism, and integrative learning. The project directly addresses critical STEM teacher shortages, especially in rural areas, by strengthening teacher preparation to meet the challenges of underrepresented groups. This Track 2: Teaching Fellowships 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 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.