BCSER: Characterizing How Teachers Design Engaging Learning Environments in STEM Education: Examining Teachers’ and Students' Conceptualizations of integrated STEM

这个STEM教育研究能力建设项目结合了一个旨在检查教师作为STEM教育变革推动者的研究项目和一个专业发展计划，重点是促进主要研究者获得概念框架和研究设计的能力，以探索中学环境中的综合STEM（系统）学习环境。该研究项目将调查教师对系统教学和学习的概念，以及这些概念如何影响他们设计课堂体验，使学生参与这些学习环境。该研究还将采用现象透镜和混合方法进行两组随机试验，以探索学生在这些学习环境中的参与度。该项目将扩展研究者在教师准备实践方面的方法和主题专业知识，为学生的学习提供信息。这项研究将在印第安纳州的农村和不同的K-12学校人口中进行，这些人口在印第安纳州教育部指定的STEM教学学校注册。研究者将研究两个研究问题：(1)中学STEM教师对系统的概念是什么？(2)教师的教学实践如何影响学生课堂参与学习机会的质量？研究样本将包括100名教师，基于多年的经验、特定的STEM学科和学校环境。数据将通过质量调查、访谈和包括课堂观察在内的实验组案例研究来收集。建构主义学习理论和学习机会框架将被用来解释第二个研究问题的发现。该项目将确定系统系统教学和学习环境之间的关键方法论问题和理论联系，以支持学生参与未来的研究，并提供可能提高系统系统教学效率的背景因素。该项目的预期成果是对系统定义的新知识和指导系统教学和教师准备的新设计原则。该项目由EHR核心研究（ECR）项目的EHR: STEM教育研究能力建设竞赛支持。ECR资助基础STEM教育研究，重点关注STEM学习和学习环境，扩大STEM领域的参与，以及STEM劳动力的发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This STEM education research capacity building project combines a research project aimed at examining teachers as agents of change in STEM education and a professional development plan focused on facilitating the principal investigator’s acquisition of competencies in conceptual frameworks and research designs for exploring integrated STEM (iSTEM) learning environments in middle school settings. The research project will investigate teachers’ conceptions of iSTEM teaching and learning and how these conceptualizations influence them to design classroom experiences that engage students in these learning environments. The study will also employ a phenomenographic lens and mixed-methods approach to conduct a two-group randomized trial to explore students’ engagement in these learning environments. The project will extend the investigator’s methodological and subject matter expertise in teacher preparation practices that inform student learning. The research will be conducted in the state of Indiana with rural and diverse K-12 school populations that are enrolled in STEM teaching schools as designated by the Indiana Department of Education. The investigator will examine two research questions: (1) What are middle school STEM teachers’ conceptions of iSTEM? and (2) How do teachers’ instructional practices affect the quality of students’ classroom opportunities to engage in learning? The study sample will include 100 teachers based on years of experience, specific STEM discipline, and school setting. Data will be collected through a Qualtrics survey, interviews, and case study of an experimental group that includes classroom observations. Constructivist learning theory and The Opportunity to Learn framework will be utilized to interpret findings for the second research question. The project will identify critical methodological issues and theoretical links between iSTEM instruction and learning environments that support student engagement for future research and provide contextual factors that may promote iSTEM teaching effectiveness. The anticipated outcomes of the project are new knowledge toward a definition of iSTEM and new design principles to guide iSTEM instruction and teacher preparation.This project is supported by the EHR: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research competition of the EHR Core Research (ECR) program. ECR funds fundamental STEM education research that focuses on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.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.