- Year 2019
- NSF Noyce Award # 1136403
- First Name Stephen
- Last Name Robinson
- Discipline Chemistry, Engineering, Math, Physics
- Co-PI(s)
Holly Anthony, Tennessee Technological University, hanthony@tntech.edu
- Presenters
Holly Anthony, Tennessee Technological University, hanthony@tntech.edu
Need
The Tennessee Technological University – STEM Majors for Rurual Teaching Noyce program (TTU-SMaRT) has a need to provide authentic experiences to students in its Early Teaching Experience (ETE) internships to explore whether teaching is a career path they wish to pursue. Program scholars will also significantly benefit from early opportunities to enhance their lesson planning and delivery skills, interact with practicing teachers, and learn about current pedagogical innovations, all in a low-stakes environment.
Goals
How can a Noyce program provide genuine experiences for interns and scholars that help prepare them for future teaching careers? How can it also begin integrating scholars into the regional STEM teacher community, even before graduation?
Approach
From its inception the TTU-SMaRT program has had a close partnership with the Millard Oakley STEM Center at TTU. Major elements of the STEM Center’s mission are to facilitate various kinds of outreach programs for K-12 students and to serve as a regional hub for K-12 teacher professional development programs. ETE interns gain experience in an instructional setting by helping to facilitate these programs under the supervision of Center staff and TTU faculty. Noyce scholars also participate in a residency at the Center, during which they take a leadership role in these same outreach programs, developing their pedagogical skills while working with Center staff to develop and lead standards-based activities. When relevant, scholars also participate in K-12 teacher professional development to learn more about their own particular teaching area. All Noyce scholars are also fully integrated into the STEM Center User Group so that they are already members of the local STEM teacher community as they transition into their teaching careers.
Outcomes
To date, over 35 students have participated in ETE internships, 13 of who moved on to become Noyce scholars. This represents 65% of the 20 scholars who have so far participated in the program and indicates the effectiveness of this recruitment strategy. Scholars report that their STEM Center residencies have provided them with valuable opportunities that were not otherwise available in their programs of study, particularly in the area of classroom management, and also being able to develop, field test, and revise their own lesson plans without feeling under pressure to ‘get it right’ first time. They also report the value of being able to interact with practicing teachers in the more informal environment of professional development, learning more about how best practices and how they can be implemented in practice.
Broader Impacts
The participation of ETE interns and Noyce scholars has enabled the STEM Center to offer more outreach opportunities than it otherwise could. Lessons developed by scholars have contributed to a ‘library’ of standards-based activities that have also broadened the scope of what can be offered. Participation also means that scholars enter their first teaching position already being members of the regional STEM teacher community and cognizant of the resources and support the STEM Center can provide. Thus, more schools become aware of these resources and are able to take advantage of them.
