Encouraging Students to Become Secondary STEM Teachers in Eastern Iowa

University Of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, the project titled, "Encouraging Students to Become Secondary STEM Teachers in Eastern Iowa" will recruit undergraduate majors in STEM disciplines or STEM professionals and prepare them to become secondary STEM teachers. The project will fund 30-40 scholarships/fellowships over five years. In this project, the University of Iowa will collaborate with Kirkwood Community College, the Iowa City Community School District, Mt. Pleasant Community Middle School and Clear Creek-Amana High School. The project will support students in attaining a Masters of Arts in Science Teaching degree (MAT) or a Bachelor of Arts degree and MAT through a new 4+1 program at the University of Iowa that allows students to complete both degrees in 5 years. Scholarship recipients will receive up to three years of support and will participate in summer professional development workshops designed to support development of content knowledge, evidence-based pedagogies, and strategies for supporting underrepresented groups in STEM. Noyce Scholars will be mentored by experienced teachers from high-need partner school districts. Additionally, the project team will develop a new transfer pathway for secondary science teaching that will support Kirkwood Community College students in transferring to the University of Iowa to complete degrees in STEM and teacher licensure. The University of Iowa (UI) will partner with Kirkwood Community College (KCC) to implement recruitment strategies frequently used at UI such as STEM-focused career exploration activities are not currently in place at KCC. The objective of this project is to encourage students in STEM coursework at KCC and UI to consider secondary science teaching careers. The goal of this project is to recruit STEM students at Kirkwood and the University of Iowa into secondary science teacher preparation programs through career exploration activities and financial support. An existing course titled "Exploring Teaching" at KCC will be modified to include a STEM focus and will become part of a new transfer pathway at KCC that will support students' ability to transfer to UI's teacher preparation programs. Summer internship opportunities for freshmen and sophomores will be developed in collaboration with the Kirkwood Interactive Camps for Kids. Career exploration courses, internships, and Noyce Scholarship opportunities will be advertised broadly to STEM students and underrepresented populations at both institutions. Noyce Scholars will be mentored by experienced teachers and will interact with mentors and peers through fieldwork experiences and professional development activities. Data collected from the project will provide a basis for improvements in teacher recruitment and in other teacher preparation programs.