The Biology and Mathematics Educator Scholarship Project to Prepare Future Secondary Education STEM Teachers

Sacred Heart University, Fairfield CT

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the Biology and Mathematics Educator Scholarship Project to Prepare Future Secondary Education STEM Teachers will recruit undergraduate majors in biology or mathematics and prepare them to become secondary biology or mathematics teachers. The project will fund 18 scholarships over five years. In this project, Sacred Heart University will collaborate with two high-need school districts to offer preparation that will increase the number of undergraduate biology and mathematics majors entering secondary education. Project activities will include new STEM-specific teacher education curricula and supports that will enable STEM teachers to be effective in a high-need, multicultural classroom. These exceptionally qualified biology and mathematics majors will receive scholarships during their junior and senior years as a STEM major and during one post-baccalaureate year while they earn a Master of Arts in Teaching. The project's objectives are to recruit, retain, and graduate the Noyce scholars; to have them fulfill their teaching commitment; to ensure they benefit from current and innovative best practices that prepare them to teach in high-need STEM classrooms; to provide them with inquiry-based research experiences that improve their understanding and ability to teach the nature of science and research; and to prepare them as effective teachers as evidenced by their students' success. The project will implement enhanced curricular and extracurricular activities to achieve the project goals of increasing both the number and effectiveness of highly qualified biology and mathematics teachers graduating from Sacred Heart University who subsequently teach in high-need secondary school districts. Project activities will develop undergraduate and graduate courses integrating mathematics and science within the framework of STEM education, create research and service-learning opportunities, provide mentoring, and foster the development of a professional teaching identity to increase persistence and avoid the high teacher turnover currently experienced by partnering districts. The institution will develop two new courses to prepare the scholars to break down silos between science and mathematics and to better prepare their secondary students to understand knowledge transfer between settings. This will particularly benefit students in multicultural and high-need classrooms who need multiple perspectives and reinforcement to improve both mathematics and science skills. Additional foci of these courses will be on teaching project-based inquiry learning and grounding instruction in relevant, community-based applications. Participation in STEM research with peer support will improve the scholars' understanding of science and mathematics practices and their ability to communicate and teach inquiry-based activities, and service learning will promote community engagement. A long-term mentoring relationship and additional professional identity development will cement the scholars' self-confidence and help them persist in a challenging position. The project evaluation and research will generate evidence in support of the new curriculum, as well as scholar participation in STEM research, service learning, mentoring, and professional identity development.