Master Teachers Conducting STEM Practices and Action Research

University Of Central Oklahoma, Edmond OK

Investigators

Abstract

This Noyce Track 3 project aims to serve the national need of developing highly effective biology, mathematics, and physics teacher leaders in secondary education in Oklahoma. Additionally, this project will support ten biology, physics and mathematics teachers by offering a master’s degree program in STEM, a year-long leadership academy focused on problems of practice, ongoing professional development in leadership and networking, and a stipend for teaching in their high-need schools and districts. The proposed project components will enable high-achieving practicing teachers to be teacher-leaders in STEM practices and aligning activities in their STEM content areas to state standards. This project at the University of Central Oklahoma includes partnerships with Oklahoma City Public Schools and Tulsa STEM Alliance. Project goals include producing ten new teacher leaders in mathematics, biology and physics over six years. The project supports two cohorts of in-service teachers. Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs) will generate a STEM project from design to completion. They implement these practices in their own classrooms and align curriculum with state standards, evaluating the effect of alignment on student attitudes towards science and retention of content. Leadership training, hosted by Tulsa STEM Alliance, connects these practicing teachers to industry mentors and helps provide a framework to identify a problem of practice, one’s capability to solve the problem, and collaborators who can work alongside each teacher to help solve the problem. Training during the M.S. program and ongoing professional development orients MTFs to effectively support and mentor other teachers, especially those with emergency and alternative certification. This project will be iteratively evaluated. Evaluation of the project will be guided by the following evaluation question(s): (a) How do MTFs increase confidence in teaching STEM Practices through participating in program activities? (b) What graduate-quality work in STEM and education research do MTFs produce within the first year of Noyce funding? (c) How are MTFs demonstrating fluency in curriculum based leadership? (d) What new curriculum has been aligned to Oklahoma state science and mathematics standards? (e) What is the impact of aligning curriculum to current standards on student retention of content and student attitudes towards STEM? The results of this project will be disseminated to help enhance the field. This Track 3: Master Teaching Fellowships project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM 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.