- Year 2019
- NSF Award #1758238
- Registration Current Noyce Scholar
- First Name Alyssa
- Last Name Rutherford
- Discipline Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences, Math, Physics
- Institution University of Rochester
Abstract
The Developing STEM Teachers to Support Digitally-Rich Learning Noyce Scholars program was designed in recognition of the need to prepare math and science teachers who can more thoughtfully integrate technology in the classroom to promote learning and student achievement, particularly in ways that can make math and science more interesting and accessible for all learners. This presentation shares some uses of digitally-rich teaching and learning tools that have been implemented by Scholars at the University of Rochester in an effort to make the classroom more culturally sustaining. Traditional pedagogies may disenfranchise students whose cultures or ways of knowing do not align with them. Digitally rich teaching and learning tools can help expand the typical scope of classroom discourse procedures, leverage students’ prior knowledge, engage students with a wide variety of interests, and offer choice and differentiation in a way that may make classrooms more equitable for all students. In what ways can implementing digitally rich teaching and learning tools bring a more robust and engaging learning experience to diverse learners? This presentation will highlight ways that preservice science teachers have implemented or utilized technology in the classroom with the goal of creating a more engaging and inclusive learning experience for diverse learners. We evaluate the strategies used and invite further discussion on how we can continue to leverage technology to reach all our students. Practicing and preservice teachers have been able to implement digitally rich teaching and learning practices to make learning more attainable, meaningful, and memorable to diverse learners with various degrees of success. Our goal is to share our experiences and invite our peers to do the same. Through this collaboration, we hope to build and improve teachers’ repertoire of digital tools that may be implemented in the classroom to bring a better education to our students. With the rapidly evolving and expanding array of technology, teachers have many positive possibilities: leveraging how our students learn best, promoting and supporting collaborative learning, and engaging students in discourses that more closely align with their own, to name a few. Our next steps include continuing to evaluate the potential of different digitally-rich teaching and learning techniques and to expand the conversation on how traditional practices can evolve along with technology.
