- Year 2023
- NSF Noyce Award # N/A
- First Name Dawson
- Last Name Lang
- Institution Colorado School of Mines
- Role/Position Teacher
- Workshop Category Track 4: Noyce Research
- Workshop Disciplines Audience Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics
- Target Audience Co-PIs, Evaluators/Education Researchers, Noyce Master Teachers, Noyce Teaching Fellows, Other Faculty/Staff, Project PIs, Undergraduate and/or Graduate Noyce Scholars
- Topics Recruiting with Retention in Mind, Research/Assessment/Evaluation, Resources for Teachers, Supporting New Teachers/Induction
- Session Length 75 minutes minutes
- Additional Presenter(s)
Drew Isola
Goals
Participants will be able to learn about resources for prospective teachers, faculty/staff who prepare teachers, and the general public. They will learn about teacher well-being, salaries, and various other benefits of the profession. There is also an opportunity for participants to connect with other people who are working to get the facts out about the teaching profession
Evidence
Foundational work: Development and Validation of the Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession – PTaP. Development and validation of a faculty perceptions instrument: PTaP for Higher Education – the PTaP.HE (pee-taffy). Survey data collection from Physics, Chemistry, and Math departments (~50 IHEs). Focus groups of both students and faculty. Each resource is user-tested via focus groups and then large-scale usage testing with groups across the U.S. A controlled study of the presentations using PTaP and PTaP.HE.
Results:
Perceptions of the teaching profession became significantly more positive and remained more positive throughout the semester, regardless of their response to the statement, “I want to become a Grade 7-12 teacher”. 25-30% of students not interested in becoming a grade 7-12 math or science teacher changed their minds after one presentation.
Proposal
Did you know? Half of STEM majors are interested in teaching as a profession, and STEM students of color are more interested in teaching than their White counterparts.
If we want these students to consider majoring in STEM, we must let prospective students know that teaching is a career option for their major. Participants will dig into some surprising data about the teaching profession in this presentation. Recruitment strategies and resources will also be shared so that students will have accurate information about their career prospects. All materials are professional quality, research-based, and have been extensively user-tested. Get the Facts Out is a partnership between the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society, the American Mathematics Teacher Educators, and the American Association of Physics Teachers led by the Colorado School of Mines. NSF #1821710 & 1821462.
