Research Initiation: A Hybrid Community of Practice Model to Prepare Pre-Service Teachers to Teach Engineering

当职前教师得到有重点和有效的培训时，他们将更好地为K-12学生提供引人入胜的相关工程经验。以前的研究表明，为K-12学生提供参加这些类型活动的机会，对于创建一个更具工程素养的社会、使工程劳动力多样化以及鼓励和准备更多的学生从事工程职业至关重要。然而，目前很少有学院和大学提供任何培训，为职前教师教授工程学做准备，尽管一些机构目前正在开设一些课程，但对这些课程的有效性的研究很少，而且没有明确的指导方针，如何最好地为职前教师有效地教授工程学做好准备。在这个项目中，田纳西诺克斯维尔大学的职前教师将完成一个服务学习课程，在这个课程中，他们将直接与工程学学生互动，了解K-12工程教育，制定可在K-12课堂和非正式教育环境中使用的教案和项目，并在课后工程俱乐部、虚拟和面对面的STEM家庭之夜以及其他外联活动中直接与K-12学生合作。参加这类课程的目的是促进由职前教师和工程学学生组成的实践社区的发展，参加这类课程对职前教师对工程师和工程工作的看法以及对自己有效教授工程学能力的信心的影响将被审查。这项工作的最终目标是开发培训职前教师有效教授工程学的最佳做法和模式。本项目将探索参加混合实践社区的方式如何影响职前教师对工程和教学工程自我效能感的看法。在田纳西诺克斯维尔大学注册VolsTeach项目的职前教师将与工程学本科生一起完成一门由工程学和教育学教师共同教授的服务学习课程(EF 327-K-12教育中的工程设计)。本课程旨在创建一个混合实践社区，学生在其中与教师和当地的K-12教师合作，开发相关的、以工程为重点的项目和活动，这些项目和活动可纳入K-12课堂。本课程提供了一个理想的情境来考察这种投入模式如何影响职前教师对工程和教学工程自我效能感的看法。本研究分两个阶段，采用定性与定量的研究方法，探讨职前教师对工科及工科教学自我效能感的认知如何因参加这类服务性学习课程而受到影响。在第一阶段，将探讨尚未完成EF 327课程的职前教师的认知和自我效能，并将利用这一阶段的项目结果来修改课程内容，以满足这些职前教师的具体需求。在第二阶段，我们将考察目前在本课程注册的职前教师与工科学生合作时的认知和自我效能感。该项目的总体目标是了解职前教师的自我效能感和知觉是如何受到参与这一混合实践社区的影响的。这个项目所产生的知识将为职前教师未来教授工程学的准备方式提供信息。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

When pre-service teachers are provided with focused and effective training, they will be better equipped to provide engaging, relevant engineering experiences to K-12 students. Previous research has demonstrated that providing K-12 students access to these types of activities is critical to create a more engineering literate society, diversify the engineering workforce, and encourage and prepare more students to pursue engineering careers. However, very few colleges and universities currently provide any training to prepare pre-service teachers to teach engineering, and although there are some courses that are currently being offered at a few institutions, there has been very little research into the effectiveness of these courses, and there is no clear guidance available on how to best prepare pre-service teachers to teach engineering effectively. In this project, pre-service teachers at the University of Tennessee Knoxville will complete a service learning course in which they interact directly with engineering students to learn about K-12 engineering education, develop lesson plans and projects that can be used both in the K-12 classroom and in informal educational settings, and work directly with K-12 students at after-school engineering clubs, virtual and in person STEM family nights, and other outreach activities. The impact of participating in this type of course, which is structured to facilitate the development of a community of practice consisting of both pre-service teachers and engineering students, on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of engineers and engineering work and confidence in their own ability to teach engineering effectively will be examined. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop best practices and models for training pre-service teachers to teach engineering effectively. This project will explore the ways in which participation in a hybrid community of practice affects pre-service teachers’ perceptions of engineering and teaching engineering self-efficacy. Pre-service teachers enrolled in the VolsTeach program at the University of Tennessee Knoxville will join engineering undergraduate students to complete a service learning course that is co-taught by faculty from engineering and education (EF 327 - Engineering Design in K-12 Education). This course is structured to create a hybrid community of practice in which students collaborate with faculty and local K-12 teachers to develop relevant, engaging engineering-focused projects and activities that can be incorporated into K-12 classrooms. This course provides an ideal context to examine the ways in which this model of engagement affects pre-service teachers’ perceptions of engineering and teaching engineering self-efficacy. This two phase project will use both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate how pre-service teachers’ perceptions of engineering and engineering teaching self-efficacy are affected by participation in this type of service learning course. In phase 1, the perceptions and self-efficacy of pre-service teachers who have not yet completed EF 327 will be explored, and the results of this phase of the project will be used to modify elements of the course to address the specific needs of these pre-service teachers. In phase 2, the perceptions and self-efficacy of pre-service teachers who are currently enrolled in the course will be examined as they work collaboratively with engineering students. The overall goal of the project is to understand the ways in which pre-service teacher self-efficacy and perceptions are impacted by participation in this hybrid community of practice. The knowledge generated from this project will inform the ways that pre-service teachers are prepared to teach engineering in the future.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.