- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 2050476
- First Name Dorene
- Last Name Medlin
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline STEM Education (general)
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Dorene Medlin, Erica DeCuir, Richard Foreman, Albany State University
Need
The Noyce team wanted to re-envision the organizational structure of student teaching/clinical practice by expanding the experiences the fellows had with teaching as reflective practitioners in order to support teacher retention in high needs schools. Will the clinical experiences at multiple levels be a factor in helping to retain STEM teachers in high needs schools?
Research Questions
Will the clinical experiences at multiple levels be a factor in helping to retain STEM teachers in rural high needs schools?
Approach
Teacher candidates are required to engage in field and clinical experiences to obtain practical training in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. These experiences bridge theory to practice and provide teacher candidates an authentic classroom context to develop professional skills. ASU Noyce Teaching Fellows completed a six-week residency in both a middle school and high school classroom context over the course of their program. The fall internship course focused on the unique needs of middle schoolers. ASU Noyce Teaching Fellows , using a citizen science focus, practiced instructional strategies and assessments to meet the developmental needs of young adolescents and differentiate instruction as needed. The second internship placed the ASU Noyce Teaching fellows in the high schools and provided them with the opportunity to focus on the pedagogical knowledge for teaching high schoolers and highlighting citizen science.Finally, two summer internships allowed the Teaching Fellows to experience the application of the knowledge and skills in research sites. This allowed the Teaching Fellows to see how to integrate real world science into instructional practice and demonstrate the value of citizen science.
Outcomes
The Noyce Leadership Team provided multiple instructional opportunities to the Noyce Teaching Fellows and allowed them to see how science is applied in research settings. The Leadership Team found that the teaching fellows had a clearer understanding of the learning needs of middle and high school students. They could also make a more informed decision regarding which level they wanted to teach.
Broader Impacts
Integrating theory and practice into multiple levels of clinical practice results in a STEM teacher who can practice differentiated instruction that is engaging and relevant (citizen science). Giving the teachers teaching experience at multiple levels allows them to be better prepared to deal with the needs of both adolescents and young adult learners.
