- Year 2017
- NSF Noyce Award # 1439926
- First Name Virginia
- Last Name Vandergon
- Discipline Biology
- Co-PI(s)
Kellie Evans, California State University Northridge, kellie.m.evans@csun.edu
Brian Foley, California State University Northridge, brian.foley@csun.edu
Norm Herr, California State University Northridge, norm.herr@csun.edu - Presenters
Azin Barkhordar, California State University Northridge, azinbarkhordar@gmail.com
Diana Contreras, California State University Northridge, Diana.contreras.790@my.csun.edu
Fabiola Salgado, California State University Northridge, fabiola.salgado.372@my.csun.edu
Bryant Cooper, California State University Northridge, bryantrcooper@gmail.com
Need
(a) As California institutes the NGSS and CCSS in all schools there is an even bigger need to hire quality subject matter teachers in math and science. We feel that the CSUNoyce Phase II scholars program helps us support promising pre-service teachers so that they can reach the classroom quickly. Providing a scholarship/stipend to students as they finish their undergraduate degree and/or their credential allows them to finish in a timely matter.
(b) This project benefits our promising students especially our students that are from underrepresented groups in STEM teaching. It also benefits our partner schools as they get high quality teachers in the hiring pool.
Goals
(a) Goal 1: to provide one-year stipends to individuals with bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields who, because of this program, have decided to pursue teaching careers;
Goal 2: to provide one- two- or three-year scholarships to undergraduate junior- and senior-level science and math majors who have committed to an additional credential year or who are already in an integrated math/credential program;
Goal 3: to provide support for freshmen and sophomore math and science majors to participate in summer field experiences with a goal of interesting these STEM majors in teaching careers;
Goal 4: to provide professional development opportunities for our CSUNoyce Phase II scholars and to the past scholars who are one to two years in their own classrooms;
Goal 5: To provide financial assistance to opportunities to attend teaching and subject matter conferences.
(b) For Goals 1 and 2 we have been recruiting STEM majors either as undergraduates or while they are in their credential program to provide scholarships/stipends. Our criteria include a GPA of 2.8 or better as an undergraduate or a degree in a STEM field (again with a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or better) for the credential students. They also have to provide letters of recommendation and participate in an interactive interview.
Goal 3 we recruit for summer opportunities on our campus in which the freshman and sophomore candidates can assist in teaching subject matter enhancement courses. They have to be making good progress in their courses and also participate in a short interactive interview.
Goal 4 we provide professional development (PD) and seminars centered around reading of original research on aspects of teaching in diverse classrooms and classroom management. We also invite the scholars to attend PD linked to some of our other activities for example Math Morsels, CSCS open house and JPL open house for teachers.
Goal 5 we pay for travel to meetings for the scholars for example the California Math teachers and the California Science Teachers Association annual meetings.
Approach
(a)Recruitment is being done by working with Science and Math departments and undergraduate organizations within these departments (e.g. Matador Math Society, Tutoring Center), we also post and email fliers to faculty in science, math and education.
(b)A key framework is to recruit undergraduates by providing early experiences in classrooms and other learning environments. We have created programs like Tomorrow Scientists and summer teaching where undergraduates work as TAs for expert teachers. These early experiences help students realize that teaching is a great way to use their science knowledge to promote a more educated society. Our goal is to give students experiences showing what the best education is like – which may be different from the teaching they experienced in school.
(c)CSUN faculty in both the College of Science and Mathematics and College of Education collaborate on these efforts to engage undergraduates and credential students in the CSUN STEM teaching program.
Outcomes
(a)So far 25 STEM majors have participated in our program (most supported for more than 1 semester). Surveys showed that it was a very positive experience and increased interest in teaching. We have supported students who were not sure about entering teaching and the support we offered them helped them decide on a teaching career. These students were also encouraged to attend STEM teaching conferences and most scholars attended at least one such conference.
(b)We have developed a model of engaging undergraduates in STEM teacher PD allowing us to provide support for teachers at a variety of levels. We have also involved our scholars in a seminar that focuses on technology in math classrooms and this has been very well attended.
(c) We invite alumni to our seminar meetings and extra activities. We ask them to share what are their challenges as well as what is going well for them in their classrooms. We are also supporting travel of these alumni scholars for STEM teaching conferences.
Broader Impacts
(a) CSUNoyce Phase II scholars will develop their teaching and mentoring skills by working with teachers in selected high-need schools. They will thereby impact students from high-need communities from which many of them have come. The scholars have had opportunities to TA in summer STEM programs and have benefited from collaborating with teachers in a low-stakes environment. Scholars are getting experiences that prepare them to enter our STEM credential program. We also have a small project that supports our scholars as they implement engaging afterschool STEM programs.
(b) CSUN undergraduates have had the opportunity to experience teaching and think about it as a future career goal. The students from local schools have had the opportunity to be on a university campus as well as meet university students who are like them.
(c) We are moving forward successfully and our dissemination includes attending regional Noyce meetings (2016 and 2017) and discussing our program and goals.
