Research Immersions and Professional Development for Future Mathematics and Science Teachers

该项目旨在通过支持未来教师的学术准备和专业发展，满足国家对高效中学数学和科学教师的需求。该项目将通过一个寄宿暑期计划，让高表现的未来教师参与重要的学科研究。作为对教师指导研究的补充，未来的教师将与专家教育工作者一起参加专业发展活动，学习让中学生参与真实研究体验的最佳做法。这些未来的教师将与来自STEM学科的教职员工接触。每位未来的教师将在不同的机会组合中开发一个项目，包括分子电子学、凸面和离散几何、流域中的碳循环，以及入侵植物物种的物候变化。该项目的基本目标是在两年内培养十名具有丰富研究经验并准备促进K-12阶段研究活动的准中级STEM教师。朗伍德大学的这个项目将集中于六个主要项目目标，即：(1)从生物学、化学、数学和物理专业招聘10名表现优异的STEM专业学生，他们正在积极努力获得STEM学士学位和教师执照；(2)将他们与教师导师配对进行暑期研究体验；(3)让他们与来自STEM学科的多学科研究人员一起参与专业发展；(4)通过讨论和研讨会深化他们的专业准备，重点是整合K-12背景下的研究；(5)评估项目活动对职前教师的影响；以及(6)传播调查结果和成果，特别是向有兴趣利用真实的学科研究经验作为帮助加强和改进职前STEM教师准备的工具的其他个人和机构。项目评估将侧重于研究研究经验和参与专业发展计划对参与者的影响。根据这一点，它将包括使用以前经过审查的评估工具来评估未来教师在沟通、自主性、智力成长和发展以及教学和学科知识方面的学习成果。除了通过指导研究项目产生的知识外，调查结果还将包括一些见解，以指导未来努力使准教师参与严格的学科研究，并建立一个侧重于教学最佳做法的实践社区。将在地方、地区和国家各级传播项目成果，并注意推广一种教师职前经验和准备的模式。诺伊斯职前教师研究经验项目由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金项目(Noyce)提供支持。Noyce计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人员成为有效的K-12 STEM教师，并支持有经验的、模范的K-12教师成为高需求地区的STEM硕士教师。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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。

The project aims to serve the national need for highly effective secondary mathematics and science teachers by supporting the academic preparation and professional development of prospective teachers. The project will engage high-performing prospective teachers in significant disciplinary research through a residential summer program. Complementing the faculty-mentored research, prospective teachers will participate in professional development activities with expert educators to learn best practices for engaging secondary school students in authentic research experiences. These prospective teachers will engage with faculty members from across the STEM disciplines. Each prospective teacher will develop a project within a diverse portfolio of opportunities including molecular electronics, convex and discrete geometry, carbon cycling in watersheds, and phenological changes in invasive plant species. The project has an underlying objective of graduating, over a period of two years, ten prospective secondary STEM teachers who have had an intensive research experience and are prepared to facilitate research activities in the K-12 setting. This project at Longwood University will focus on six primary project goals, namely to: (1) recruit ten high-performing STEM majors - from biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics - who are actively working toward a STEM baccalaureate degree and teaching licensure; (2) pair them with faculty mentors for a summer research experience; (3) engage them in professional development with a multidisciplinary cohort of researchers from across the STEM disciplines; (4) deepen their professional preparation through discussions and workshops focused on integrating research in the K-12 context; (5) evaluate the impact of project activities on the pre-service teachers; and (6) disseminate findings and outcomes, especially to other individuals and institutions interested in using authentic discipline research experiences as a tool to help enhance and improve pre-service STEM teacher preparation. Project evaluation will focus on studying the impact on the participants of the research experiences and of engagement in the professional development program. In accordance with this, it will include employing previously vetted evaluation instruments to assess the prospective teachers’ learning outcomes in communication, autonomy, intellectual growth and development, and pedagogical and disciplinary knowledge. In addition to the knowledge generated through the mentored research projects, findings will include insights to inform future efforts to engage prospective teachers in rigorous disciplinary research and a community of practice focused on pedagogical best practices. Project results will be disseminated at the local, regional, and National levels with attention being given to promoting a model for pre-service teacher experiences and preparation. This Noyce Research Experiences for Pre-service Teachers 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 districts. It also supports research on the 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.