A Graduate Education Course for Elementary School Teachers: Fostering Knowledge of Science and the Engineering Design Process

This study provides insights to the successes and challenges of elementary school teachers as they refined their knowledge of specific physical science components and notions of the engineering design process. Our analysis of pre- and post-tests suggested that teachers significantly improved their knowledge after attending a graduate STEM education course

Uncovering Elementary Teachers\u27 Notions of Engineering Design Practices using Video-Captured Instruction

This article describes a 3-credit STEM education graduate course that provided knowledge and experiences to elementary school teachers for incorporating engineering design process (EDP) into their instruction. We analyzed teacher\u27s written reflections that gave us insights to the successes and challenges in helping teachers develop their notions and implementation of the EDP

STEM Education Course: Enhancing K-12 Teachers\u27 Cultural Awareness Through Reflections of Socioscientific Issues

This study applied the Socioscientific Issues (SSI) framework to explore how elementary teachers navigate STEM curriculum and apply SSI following a STEM certification endorsement course. Analysis revealed a number of themes regarding shifts in teachers\u27 perceived cultural practices, indicating a substantial shift in focus for these teachers in teaching science

Developing Teachers’ Intentions of Incorporating Socioscientific Issues in Lesson Design

In an effort to increase students’ informed decisions and evidence-based argumentation and perspective taking in the STEM classroom, this case study explored the ways in which teachers’ thinking and intention of incorporating Socioscientific Issues (SSI) into their lesson plans change after participating in an experiential workshop. Recognizing the difficulties inherent in SSI implementation, the day-long teacher development implemented a multi-layered approach which included declarative and procedural knowledge construction, namely understanding SSI components, SSI lesson planning, and learning STEM topics through the SSI framework. Pre-post conference questionnaires and lesson analysis showed that teachers were adept in developing SSI-focused lessons. In addition, the majority of teachers who had not previously taught an SSI lesson, did intend to develop SSI lessons in the future which included scientific phenomena or system dynamics. Implications for STEM teacher development are discussed

Changes in preservice science teachers’ knowledge of inquiry and practice of lesson design

Recent reforms in science education require teachers to improve their notions of scientific inquiry and design effective inquiry-based lessons. This is a challenging task particularly for preservice teachers (PTs) who may not have experienced inquiry learning themselves, and who do not possess a large repertoire of teaching strategies or knowledge of student thinking in the domain. PTs’ ability to apply knowledge in the planning and designing of inquiry-based lessons requires careful scaffolding in a science teacher preservice program. My study addressed some of these challenges. Specifically, I examined the ways that PTs’ knowledge of model-based science inquiry and their ability to use this knowledge in designing lessons developed over time. My study involved the 2006 cohort of 15 PTs enrolled in four subject-specific methods courses in consecutive semesters as part of a two-year biological science certification program. I employed qualitative procedures (coding, constant comparative method to identify themes, and quantifying qualitative analyses of these themes) to analyze teaching philosophy papers, clinical interviews, lesson plans, and final reflection papers collected from the methods courses. My research findings provided evidence to support positive changes in PTs’ knowledge of Model-Based Inquiry (MBI) and its implementation in lesson designs. PTs were able to design lessons with (a) objectives that incorporated “big ideas” in science, (b) performance-oriented goals, (c) driving questions to elicit students’ pre-conceptions, and (d) multiple forms of assessment to monitor student progress. Moreover, I found several shifts in PTs’ knowledge of MBI and its enactment in lessons: (a) from teacher-centered and activity-oriented to more student-centered lessons with modeling, and (b) from “scripted” to more sophisticated modeling practice. These findings pointed to growth in the PTs’ use of models and practice of modeling, and consideration of students’ prior knowledge and skills. On the other hand, PTs struggled to provide suitable evidence for their students to use as part of investigations and failed to incorporate argumentation as part of the science practices in their lessons. My dissertation study has the potential to contribute to teacher education research by uncovering the effects of subject-specific methods courses and fieldwork on the growth of teacher knowledge of model-based science inquiry and inquiry-based instruction, lesson-planning practices, and knowledge of students’ conceptions and skills.Ed. D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Augusto Z. Macalalag Jr

Internalization of STEM Education

For many years the need to educate and support our teachers to implement science and mathematics education has been ongoing throughout the world (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019; Mundry et al., 2009). In more recent years, this call has extended to include teaching through integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects as a vehicle to learn disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and cross-cutting concepts (NGSS Lead States, 2013). This book includes three sections: Learning Contexts in Teaching of STEM Disciplines, STEM Teacher Education, and Components Related to Students\u27 STEM Learning Experiences. The first section of this book explores two unique contexts in which STEM education is being developed. The first chapter describes the current literature on the application of SocioScientific Issues to teach STEM in inclusive settings. The second chapter describes the development of public residential STEM High Schools in Egypt, completely reimagining how STEM is addressed in that country. The second section will explore aspects of teacher professional development in STEM as well as the motivations for teachers to learn and improve their STEM pedagogy. Specifically, the first chapter illuminates teachers’ motivation and practices in STEM implementation. The second chapter describes the demands on and resources for STEM implementations for teachers and the effect these factors have on their job satisfaction. The third chapter in this section describes the analysis of video reflections and personal reflective accounts of a female preservice teacher, exploring self-efficacy, belonging, and identity in learning STEM content through the lens of gender. The final chapter also explores gender as a variable along with problem solving skills to explore the impact of these variables on STEM awareness levels of classroom teachers. These chapters illuminate challenges faced in preparing and developing STEM educators as well as the mindset and motivations of teachers in these fields. The last section dives into issues related to STEM learning experiences for students. The first chapter reports findings from a meta-analytic study investigating the relationship between self-efficacy and interest in a STEM career and the various student factors that influence this relationship. The second chapter analyzes the STEM identity from an international perspective. The final study investigates the effects of computer simulations on students’ conceptual understanding of physics and scientific ideas

AC 2010-137: TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN GRADES 3-5: FOSTERING TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING Teacher Professional Development in Grades 3-5: Fostering Teachers' and Students' Content Knowledge in Science and

Abstract Innovative, research-based professional development is needed to help teachers implement science and engineering education in elementary schools. This is a challenging task, particularly for teachers who many have little familiarity with either science inquiry or the engineering design process (EDP), and who may not have developed the instructional strategies needed to facilitate student inquiry and engagement in EDP. In the Partnership to Improve Student Achievement (PISA) study, 43 grade 3-5 teachers in New Jersey participated in a two-week summer workshop, three workshops during the school year, and received monthly classroom support visits, which comprised one year of instructional activities in a three-year professional development program. The study also included 737 students taught by teachers in the treatment group, 35 teachers in the comparison group, and 684 students taught by teachers in the comparison group. We analyzed pre-and post-tests of teachers and students in both groups and teacher activity implementation surveys. Results from the pre-and post-tests showed that the treatment teachers significantly increased their content knowledge in science and engineering compared to the comparison group. Similarly, post-test scores of students in the treatment group were significantly higher than the post-test scores of students in the comparison group. Teachers noted that scientific inquiry and the engineering design process promoted 21 st century skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication among students. Finally, further data analysis revealed that the number of PISA lessons that teachers implemented in their classrooms was a significant predictor of students' test scores. In this paper, we report on the professional development model that we used and the results of our study