The El Paso Partnership for the Preparation of STEM Teachers to Implement Project-based Learning

University Of Texas At El Paso, El Paso TX

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, this Track 1 project at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) aims to serve the national need of preparing high-quality STEM teachers. UTEP is partnering with the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), a high-need district with a majority of its population classified as Hispanic and at-risk. The partnership will establish an innovative and transformative teacher preparation program, integrating Noyce Scholars into school sites currently implementing project-based learning (PBL) with support from the New Tech Network (NTN), a national, non-profit network for comprehensive pedagogical and cultural change in public school settings. Specifically, the partnership will establish professional development school sites where pre-service STEM teachers learn theory and practice alongside university- and school-based faculty to innovatively prepare and graduate knowledgeable STEM teachers, who understand how learning theories inform meaningful and valuable instructional practices. The Noyce@UTEP program goals are to: (1) recruit, certify, and retain Noyce Scholars, who are science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) undergraduate majors; (2) design and refine coursework and field-based teaching experiences to prepare Noyce Scholars to be effective teachers; and (3) create and disseminate knowledge on how best to prepare STEM teachers. Thirty-six (36) Noyce Scholars are expected to graduate with a baccalaureate degree in a STEM discipline and secondary STEM teaching certification and be fully prepared to teach in high-need school districts. Science and Education faculty will co-design a senior-level required course for STEM majors with a secondary education minor, which will expose students to (1) novel methods for teaching students STEM concepts using PBL; (2) sheltered English instruction; and (3) special education in immersion programs. Other required education courses will integrate field experiences at school sites where PBL is implemented. Two of these courses will be held on an NTN high school campus where Noyce Scholars will meaningfully interact with in-service teachers and university faculty while being immersed in authentic PBL teaching and learning experiences. This will contribute to the formation of a community of practice, an integral component of the program. A research investigation will generate knowledge to understand the effect of social networks and support structures in preparing Noyce Scholars to teach in high-need schools with a predominantly Hispanic student population. Knowledge of best practices in preparing effective STEM teachers will be disseminated across various venues to include school administrator meetings and annual conferences, such as the New Tech Network Conference; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; National Science Teachers Association; American Educational Research Association; Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST), sponsored by the Science Teachers Association of Texas; Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching; and TODOS (Mathematics for All: Excellence and Equity in Mathematics). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 mathematics and science teachers in high-need school districts and experienced and exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become master teachers. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 teachers in high-need school districts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.