Building the Capacity of Educators to Improve STEM Education

• In Event: 69.056 - Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: 69.056-2 - Laying the Groundwork for a STEM Ecosystem

Abstract

The Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Partnership (ISEP) is a collaboration between higher education, industry, informal learning centers, parents, and the Buffalo public school system to bolster STEM education. ISEP serves teachers and students in twelve public schools throughout Buffalo. Students benefit from hands-on learning and exposure to interdisciplinary research and problem-solving. The desired level of inquiry-based learning is accomplished by building the capacity of teachers to deliver STEM content. IESP delivers Teacher Professional Development (TPD) in academic and industrial laboratories and provides teachers supplemental learning resources along with access to informal learning spaces and programs for students.

In recent years, the Buffalo public school system has seen an upswell in the number of English Language Learners (ELL). Between the years of 2000 and 2013, the foreign born population ages 18 to 34 in the Buffalo region grew by 75 percent (compared to 6 percent nationally for that population)1. In response to this increase, ISEP is utilizing the TPD to teach English through science content. As such the TPD addresses three issues; teachers’ capacity to teach STEM content, a lack of inquiry-based STEM lessons for students, and meaningful opportunities for ELLs to practice their language skills.

The ISEP research team used the Elementary School and Middle School Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Assessment to collect pre (Fall 2013) and post (Spring 2014) data on teachers who participated in the TPD. The assessment measured teachers’ PCK and their knowledge of interdisciplinary science inquiry teaching through 8 multiple-choice questions regarding vignettes detailing different inquiry-based teaching techniques used in classrooms. Response options for these eight items represent teacher-directed (primarily didactic) to student-directed (primarily open inquiry) approaches. Notable results include statistically significant improvements in teachers’ preparedness to encourage females and minorities in science courses after participation in the TDP.2

The ISEP research team also studied the extent to which teachers’ participation in TPD changed their students’ interest in STEM. In Fall 2013 and Spring 2014, 892 and 764 students from six elementary and middle schools responded to the ISEP Student Questionnaire, respectively. The questionnaire asked students about inquiry based learning, perceptions of STEM, and the “Nature of Science.”3 The comparison of the pre-post ISEP Student Questionnaire showed that students liked science more in Spring 2014 than they did in Fall 2013. At the end of the school year, students reported that their teachers encouraged them to ask questions more often and to explain their ideas to other students. Students also reported that they used information and data to support their conclusions, learned from other students, considered different scientific explanations, had choice in the activities they did, used technology for science assignments or activities, and developed skills for doing science more frequently at the end of the school year than they did at the beginning of the year. Elementary students also demonstrated a better understanding of the processes and “Nature of Science” at the end of the school year. Also, students in ISEP classrooms reported more parent involvement than comparison students.

Author

• Joseph A Gardella, SUNY - Buffalo