Virtual Galápagos: A Novel, Project-Based Approach to Training Pre-Service STEM Teachers in Innovative Pedagogical Design

该项目旨在通过实施以高度协作、以项目为基础的结构为基础的STEM教师培训替代方法，为国家利益服务。为期两个暑假，来自纽约州农村的10名本科生职前教师将参加为期10周的基于项目的体验，学习以学生为中心的教学设计方法，利用这些方法为3-5年级创建一个以探究为导向、互动的跨学科科学网站。由职前教师设计的课程材料将鼓励小学生在回答关于加拉帕戈斯群岛的科学问题时采用基于证据的做法，这些问题仔细地与下一代科学标准保持一致，并在关键时刻提供，以激发人们对科学的兴趣。课程教材将在当地学校、专业发展讲习班和职前教师试行，然后广泛分发。作为该计划的结果，未来的教师参与者将拥有必要的技能、知识和性格，以创建利用经过验证的基于项目的方法来提高学生在STEM中的坚持性的教学材料；随着职前教师熟练使用以学生为中心的教学方法，他们的教学能力得到提高，创造了一个积极的反馈循环，在这个循环中，他们反过来激励他们自己的P-12学生追求STEM职业生涯。新的课程材料将向所有人免费提供，并有英语和西班牙语版本，以将其实用范围扩大到农村地区服务不足的群体。此外，高露洁大学将开设两门关于STEM教学设计和课堂技术应用的新课程，填补现有教师培训计划的关键空白。通过让职前教师参与密集协作的教学设计过程，该项目将解决STEM教育中的三个迫切需求：小学教师的科学培训和课程资源有限，全国缺乏高质量的STEM教师，以及农村地区缺乏STEM教师。在该项目的过程中，20名本科生职前教师将学习如何使用基于设计的框架将新兴的教育技术整合到基于探究的课堂中，这在大流行后资源不足的农村地区是一个特别重要的培训机会。该项目将为致力于农村地区STEM教学的不同个人建立一个学习环境，以支持此类社区STEM教师的招聘和持之以恒。服务不足的群体将在队列和更大的学习社区中得到强有力的代表，为参与者提供多样化的科学家榜样和导师。我们的知识生成研究将考察任职前的STEM教师如何在基于设计的环境中处理课程任务以制作教育产品，向教师准备计划提供培训和留住高素质儿童教育工作者的最佳实践。此外，我们的教师培训模式强调，需要以加拉帕戈斯群岛这一国际生物地质宝藏为特色的全球课程观点，但它可以适应于在任何提供深度科学内容和意义的地方解决科学问题。因此，我们的项目将产生一个可复制、可转移的教师培训系统，适用于其他有兴趣利用设计思维方法培养以学生为中心的高质量STEM教师的机构。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。部分资金来自罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划。这一奖项反映了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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by implementing an alternative approach to STEM teacher preparation that is grounded in a highly collaborative, project-based structure. For 2 summers, a diverse cohort of 10 undergraduate pre-service teachers from across rural New York State will engage in a 10-week, project-based experience to learn student-centered pedagogical design methods by using them to create an inquiry-driven, interactive, interdisciplinary science website for grades 3-5. The curricular materials designed by the pre-service teachers will encourage elementary students to employ evidence-based practices as they address scientific questions about the Galápagos Islands, carefully aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and delivered at a critical point to fuel interest in science. Curricular materials will be piloted in local schools, professional development workshops, and by pre-service teachers prior to being widely disseminated. As a result of the program, the future teacher participants will be equipped with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessary to create pedagogical materials that utilize proven project-based methods for enhancing student persistence in STEM; as the pre-service teachers gain proficiency using student-centered pedagogies, their instructional abilities improve, creating a positive feedback loop in which they, in turn, inspire their own P-12 students to pursue STEM careers. The new curricular materials will be free to all and available in English and Spanish, to expand their utility to underserved groups in rural settings. Furthermore, two new courses on pedagogical design in STEM and technology use in the classroom will be created at Colgate University, filling critical gaps in the existing Teacher Preparation Program. By engaging pre-service teachers in an intensively collaborative pedagogical design process, the project will address three urgent needs in STEM education: limited science training and curricular resources for elementary teachers, the national shortage of quality STEM teachers, and the lack of STEM teachers in rural districts. Over the course of the project, a cohort of 20 undergraduate pre-service teachers will learn how to integrate emerging educational technologies using design-based frameworks into inquiry-based classrooms, an especially important training opportunity in rural, under-resourced districts post-pandemic. The project will build a learning environment of diverse individuals committed to STEM teaching in rural districts, to support recruitment and persistence of STEM teachers in such communities. Underserved groups will be strongly represented in the cohort and greater learning community, providing diverse, scientist role models and mentors for participants. Our knowledge-generation research will examine how pre-service STEM teachers approach curricular tasks to produce educational products in a design-based setting, informing teacher preparation programs about best practices to train and retain high quality childhood educators. Furthermore, our teacher-preparation model stresses the need for global curricular perspectives that feature an international bio-geologic treasure, the Galápagos Islands, but which can be adapted to address science issues in any location that offers depth of science content and significance. Thus, our project will result in a replicable, transferable teacher-training system adaptable for other institutions interested in preparing high-quality STEM teachers in student-centered pedagogy using design-thinking methods. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Partial funding is from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program.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.