Building Capacity to Enhance an Online STEM Teacher Education Program with Simulations

该项目旨在满足国家需要，为STEM专业人员，退伍军人和其他人建立加速的在线途径，以获得STEM二级教学许可证。该项目将与美国大学教师教育协会（AACTE）合作，利用最近推出的一项新举措，在康科德大学为期一年的在线教学艺术硕士（MAT）课程中，推进模拟在STEM教育者准备中的使用。为了满足西弗吉尼亚州高需求学校对中学STEM教师的需求，该项目还将设计招聘材料，以吸引退伍军人、STEM专业人员和其他人从事STEM教学职业。此外，与当地技术学院的合作伙伴关系将建立从社区学院到教师执照的STEM教学生涯的途径。这些努力可以产生一个基于课堂模拟的在线教师教育模型，以及招募社区大学学生，STEM专业人员和退伍军人到中学STEM教学职业的见解。这个来自西弗吉尼亚州康科德大学的能力建设项目，与新河社区和技术学院（NRCTC）合作，建议准备一个战略计划，从工作的专业人士，退伍军人，STEM毕业生和其他人中招募具有STEM背景的个人，进入重组后的为期一年的教学艺术硕士（MAT）课程。模拟课堂体验将在整个课程中使用，并与模拟专家Mursion一起开发。该项目有两个目标。一是加强在线MAT课程，以满足学生，行业和合作伙伴的需求，并在未来增加高素质STEM教师的入学率和产量。第二个目标是加强与当地四年制和两年制学院，学区，军事基地和STEM行业利益相关者的合作关系，并改善全州和州际市场营销和MAT计划的招聘。该项目将修改现有的在线MAT课程，并设计一个为期一年的简化途径，以完成该课程和教师执照。此外，该项目还将与仿真技术公司Mursion合作，开发嵌入在线教师教育计划的课堂仿真，旨在培养高技能的STEM教师。此外，该项目将与NRCTC合作，修订衔接协议，通过该在线计划为该地区的机构提供中学STEM教学职业的示范途径。该项目将由包括社区学院，大学和高中STEM教师在内的工作组提供指导。通过新的招聘战略，拟议的项目将有助于了解如何吸引第二职业STEM专业人员，退伍军人和其他人到高需求学校的中学STEM教学职业。这项工作的成果可以为全国其他机构提供见解，通过加速在线教师教育，使STEM专业和专业人员更容易获得和负担得起STEM教学职业。该机构与美洲反恐怖主义委员会的联系将使人们能够广泛分享经验教训。这个能力建设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 project aims to serve the national need to build accelerated, online pathways for STEM professionals, veterans, and others to obtain secondary STEM teaching licensure. The project will work with the American Association of Colleges Teacher Education (AACTE) to leverage a recently launched new initiative to advance the use of simulations in STEM educator preparation in Concord University's one-year online Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. To address the need for secondary STEM teachers in high-need schools in West Virginia, the project will also design recruitment materials to attract military veterans, STEM professionals, and others to STEM teaching careers. Further, a partnership with a local technical college will establish pathways for pursuing a STEM teaching career from community college through teacher licensure. These efforts could produce a model for online teacher education based in classroom simulations, as well as insights into recruiting community college students, STEM professionals, and military veterans to secondary STEM teaching careers.This Capacity Building project from Concord University in West Virginia, in partnership with New River Community and Technical College (NRCTC), proposes to prepare a strategic plan for recruiting individuals with STEM backgrounds from working professionals, veterans, STEM graduates, and others into a restructured, one-year Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. Simulated classroom experiences will be utilized throughout the curriculum and developed with simulation specialist, Mursion. The project has two goals. One is to enhance an online MAT program to meet student, industry, and partner needs, and increase enrollments and production of highly qualified STEM teachers in the future. The second goal is to enhance partnerships with local four-year and two-year colleges, school districts, military bases, and STEM-industry stakeholders, and to improve statewide and interstate marketing and recruitment for the MAT program. The project will revise an existing, online MAT Program, as well as design a 1-year streamlined pathway to completion of that program and teacher licensure. Additionally, the project will collaborate with simulation technology company Mursion to develop classroom simulations to be embedded in this online teacher education program with the aim of producing highly skilled STEM teachers. Further, the project will collaborate with NRCTC to revise articulation agreements to provide model pathways to secondary STEM teaching careers through this online program for institutions in the region. The project will be guided by input from working groups including community college, university, and high school STEM faculty. Through new recruitment strategies, the proposed project will contribute knowledge about how to attract second-career STEM professionals, military veterans, and others to secondary STEM teaching careers in high-need schools. Outcomes of the effort could produce insights for other institutions nationwide about making STEM teaching careers more accessible and affordable for STEM majors and professionals through accelerated, online teacher education. The institution’s connections with the AACTE will enable widespread sharing of lessons learned. This Capacity Building 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 effectiveness and retention 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.