- Year 2016
- NSF Noyce Award # 1439900
- First Name Peter
- Last Name Sheppard
- Discipline Mathematics
- Co-PI(s)
Patricia Beaulieu, UL Lafayette, pbeaulieu@louisiana.edu
Kathleen Lopez, UL Lafayette, klopez@louisiana.edu
Pegge Alciatore, UL Lafayette, palciatore@louisiana.edu - Presenters
Peter Sheppard, UL Lafayette, psheppard@louisiana.edu
Need
The Strengthening Teacher Education through Mathematics & Science Teaching Scholars (STEMS2) in Louisiana project is attentive to the local, regional and national persistent concern of secondary STEM teacher recruitment, preparation, induction, and retention. At the local level, this project is responsive to current performance challenges of students in Algebra and Biology on end-of-course tests.
Goals
The major measurable outcome of the STEMS2 project will be the production of twenty-five exceptionally qualified secondary STEM teachers, the project evaluation will also assess the project’s explicit intents related to fostering collaboration among mathematics, science and education faculty, as well as among the University of Louisiana at Lafayette faculty STEMS2 participants and partner school districts.
Approach
Programmatically, the design features a distribution of duties among university faculty and the STEMS2 K-12 partners which increases the likelihood of graduates mastering variables that pertain to teachers’ knowledge and skills, namely, knowledge of the subject matter content to be taught; knowledge of how to teach that content to a wide range of learners; and the ability to manage a classroom, and design and implement instruction.
Outcomes
The all-inclusive nature of this project, with recruitment, preparation, mentors, and induction support, will allow the deployment of exceptionally qualified teachers, armed with a robust knowledge of STEM pedagogy and content, to high-need school districts with the ability to make immediate positive impacts on student learning in STEM areas.
Broader Impacts
If the STEMS2 project meets its intended goals, it may contribute to better detecting the elusive duplicable attributes of successful STEM teacher recruitment, preparation, and induction, which is a matter of local, regional, and national concern. We trust that the all-inclusive nature of this project will allow us to deploy exceptionally qualified teachers, armed with a robust knowledge of mathematics pedagogy and content, to high needs school districts with the ability to make immediate positive impacts on student learning in STEM areas. Moreover, the relative success of similar efforts by other institutions has made this endeavor intellectually desirable for us. Thus, we are highly committed to contributing to America’s ascendancy in the field of STEM education. At minimum, we anticipate that our 25 STEMS2 scholars will impact 5,000 students in the state of Louisiana.
