- Year 2019
- NSF Noyce Award # 1660621
- First Name John
- Last Name Hammett
- Discipline Biology, Chemistry, Math, Physics
- Co-PI(s)
Jennifer Ayala, Saint Peter’s University, jayala@saintpeters.edu; Yosra Badiei, Saint Peter’s University, ybadiei@saintpeters.edu
- Presenters
John E. Hammett III, Saint Peter’s University, jhammett@saintpeters.edu
Need
This summer immersion program documented with our poster provided a means by which potential scholars could explore teaching, particularly with students from high need school districts, as a possible career choice.
Goals
During this summer internship, potential scholars developed a thematic curriculum for a two-week summer STEM camp for high school students from high need districts, crafting and refining lesson plans, delivering classroom instruction, and facilitating science laboratory instruction.
Approach
The interns constructed the curriculum and accompanying lesson plans and assessment methods during the weeks prior to the camp, under the guidance of their faculty mentors and Co-PI’s. They then delivered the instruction, with faculty observing. At the conclusion of each camp day, the faculty conducted feedback sessions with the interns, helping them identify successes, challenges, and areas for improvement, which they then implemented in subsequent lessons.
Outcomes
The grant program yielded a successful conversion, with an intern becoming a scholar. All the interns left the summer program with completed and tested lesson plans. The campers or high school students created summary posters depicting their experiences and lab work, which they first shared with their families and school administrators at the end of the camp, and then could share with their teachers and classmates in school the next year; they developed these materials with the assistance of the interns.
Broader Impacts
This summer internship program has been by far the most successful component of Saint Peter’s NSF Noyce Scholarship Program (#1660621). The interns evolved as teaching pre-professionals, and some solidified their interest in teaching, even if not through the grant. The campers, their families, and their school administrators consistently praised the summer camp and appreciated the interns who served the high school students. This initiative helped bring the grant program’s efforts into focus within the local partner high need school districts.
