- Year 2018
- NSF Noyce Award # 1136416, 1556983, 1557295
- First Name Keith
- Last Name Hubbard
- Discipline Math
- Co-PI(s)
Lesa Beverly, Stephen F. Austin State University, beverlyll@sfasu.edu
Dennis Gravatt, Stephen F. Austin State University, dgravatt@sfasu.edu
Chrissy Cross, Stephen F. Austin State University, crossc1@sfasu.edu - Presenters
Keith Hubbard, Stephen F. Austin State University, hubardke@sfasu.edu
Dennis Gravatt, Stephen F. Austin State University, dgravatt@sfasu.edu
Need
This program raises the visibility of STEM teaching as a career path and attracts students who might otherwise not have an opportunity to interface with teaching as a career choice. It also gives community college students the opportunity to visit a university, interact with STEM professors, and consider STEM teaching.
Goals
Our Job Shadow opportunity raises awareness about careers in STEM teaching, gives STEM majors an opportunity to have an early field experience without making a long-term commitment, and gives STEM faculty an opportunity to observe which STEM students thrive in the classroom. We accomplish this through a one-week intense Job Shadow the week after classes end, interspersed with guided reflection.
Approach
We accomplish engagement through a one-week intense Job Shadow the week after classes end, interspersed with guided reflection. We connect outstanding local STEM teachers with STEM students, allow them to articulate why they teach, then allow STEM students to process this with each other.
Outcomes
To date, over 100 STEM students have participated. The majority indicate that they are more positively inclined toward teaching as a profession after the Job Shadow. The STEM Master Teachers also indicate great encouragement from being a part of the program ? the find it invigorating to engage with prospective teachers and articulate why they teach.
Broader Impacts
Besides just the STEM students involved and the STEM Master Teachers involved, this program positively affects the high school students who have a STEM major considering teaching in their classroom. Often extremely positive relationships are formed even in a short timeframe. Similarly, those STEM majors who hear about the program through the dozens of classroom visits advertising the program and hundreds of posters/fliers had their awareness of the STEM teaching profession raised. Finally, the deepest impact is on those job shadowers who have actually gone on to teach ? they affect thousands of students and have benefited from the preparation that the Job Shadow gave.Findings have been disseminated through articles, presentations, and a website.
