- Year 2024
- NSF Noyce Award # 2151141
- First Name Elsa
- Last Name Villa
- Registration Faculty/Administrator/Other
- Discipline Computer Science
- Role Principal Investigator (PI)
- Presenters
Elsa Villa, Salamah Salamah, Erika Mein, Sanga Kim, Kevin Sias, Seth Sias, and Leonardo Zapata Contreras
Need
This Noyce Teaching Fellows Program prepares computer science teachers, which meets the demand for preparing youth to enter into computing fields, as the world is rapidly moving toward more use of technology, such as AI and machine learning.
Research Questions
How effective is the one-year graduate program in Education and residency mentorship in preparing CS teachers to teach and serve linguistically-culturally diverse populations in high need school districts? What changes, if any, in Teaching Fellows’ self-perceived growth (e.g., self-efficacy, leadership skills, mindset,) occur over the 4-year period of teaching computer science?
Approach
The residency is co-designed and implemented in close collaboration with UTEP’s school district partners. One key element of the residency is a shared governance structure, where district and campus leaders meet with UTEP faculty and program leadership to examine program data – specifically teacher candidate performance data aligned to T-TESS – and to make joint decisions about the program. The shared governance structure serves as an important feedback loop, where UTEP and district partners work together to continually improve the program based on data and shared decision-making. During the residency year and subsequent summer, TFs complete five additional graduate courses as well as a monthly Saturday Professional Learning Series. The five graduate courses complement the initial practice-based course sequence and are focused on special education, working with English Learners, and technology integration into the curriculum. The Saturday Professional Learning Series was developed with input from district partners and includes topics immediately applicable to the residency,including the Fundamental Five, Social-Emotional Learning, and Writing across the Curriculum.
Outcomes
The expected outcome is 10 CS teachers will be prepared and retained for completion of their graduate degree in Education, have received their CS certification, and complete the requisite four years of teaching
Broader Impacts
The proposed program has high potential to impact the Paso del North region through its recruitment and preparation of CS baccalaureate degree holders to become certified to teach secondary CS. With the majority of TFs expected to be Latinx, they will become role models for the secondary students they will teach and, thus, inspire and attract more Latinx high school students into post-secondary CS undergraduate studies. Furthermore, as access to high-quality CS teachers increases in the El Paso/Paso del Norte region, it is expected that the number of CS course offerings will likewise increase, resulting in an increase in secondary student achievement in CS principles and an increase in the number of students who enter into CS undergraduate studies, especially Latinx students.
