Developing Tomorrow's STEM Educators

College Of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx NY

Investigators

Abstract

This Noyce project at the College of Mount Saint Vincent (CMSV) supports 16 undergraduate science or math majors who elect to pursue a teaching career. This institution is located in New York City and has a history of excellence in serving Hispanic and other minority and low-income students. The intellectual merit derives not only from leveraging existing academic programs and student support resources but also from developing two new components of STEM/Teacher Education program at the college. Specifically, summer courses and a new 4-year pathway for STEM/TE transfer students are being added. Plans are in place to give students early exposure to teaching, strategies for working in high-need schools, mentoring by master teachers and college faculty, professional development workshops, research opportunities in science, and educational action research. Structured, supervised, and supported field experiences, as well as in-depth exposure to the inner workings of high-need schools helps Noyce scholars transition into teaching and persist in the profession. This project has several broader impacts. First, the project increases the number of students from traditionally underrepresented groups that enter STEM teaching fields. The College's attention to the values of diversity, inclusion, and experiential/reflective learning have the potential to create a model that benefits other programs serving highly diverse student populations. Second, changes and improvements made to the teacher education program as a result of this project impact many more than just the 16 Noyce scholarship recipients. Third, development of a seamless, 4-year STEM/TE pathway should enable many more students transferring from community colleges to complete a STEM degree with teacher certification in the shortest possible time. The plan is to sustain this program so that through time, many STEM majors become highly trained and inspirational mathematics and science teachers to diverse students in New York's high-needs schools. Plans are in place to document and share best practices and lessons learned with other institutions with similar characteristics via conferences and pedagogical publications.