CSP in STEM Teaching: Preparing the Next Generation through Ambitious Teaching in Mathematics and Science

• In Event: STEM Education and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: Envisioning New Horizons in Teacher Preparation for Student Liberation

Abstract

Purpose
In 2023, Loyola University Maryland received an NSF Noyce Track 1 grant to increase the number of culturally responsive and sustaining mathematics and science educators in high-need secondary schools. Guided by ambitious teaching methodologies (e.g., Braaten et al., 2018) we revised master’s curricula, offered scholarships, and provided support through teachers’ first two years. In year one, two scholars completed their degrees. Drawing on their classroom work and reflections, this presentation offers a framework for integrating Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies into STEM teacher preparation (Alim et al. 2020).

Theoretical Framework
The ambitious teaching philosophy in STEM (Braaten et al., 2018) promotes instructional practices and routines that support every student, across racial, ethnic, gender, and linguistic boundaries as they learn essential ideas within a discipline. The aim is to foster students’ deeper learning and critical reflection on their personal experiences, social contexts , and body of knowledge. This ties directly to CSP in that the experience of the child and all its complexity and intersectionality is centered, celebrated, and supported, while they are acquiring access to the wider STEM knowledge and culture (Alim et al., 2020).

Methods and Data Sources
This case study reports on two PTS from the first cohort—one in secondary mathematics and the one in secondary science. Data sources include interviews, course artifacts, classroom observations, and P-12 student artifacts. The data were analyzed through CSP and ambitious teaching framework to examine how the PSTs applied these practices in their initial teaching experiences. Additional data will be collected from the PSTs as they transition into the profession, as part of the Noyce summer professional development institute and their first-year induction seminar. The logistically data will help assess the program’s long-term impact on the PSTs’ instructional practices and their retention in the profession.
Results
Initial findings from the PSTs’ interviews highlight the rigor and relevance of the program, including their placements in high-need schools. Additionally, both PSTs appreciated Loyola’s program equipping them to design more inclusive STEM instruction, reflect on bias, and adapt to the diverse needs of students. The document analysis to be conducted of the course artifacts and observation protocols will offer evidence of the PSTs’ abilities to employ these CSP oriented practices.

Significance
The results of this program and study will offer a framework for robust teacher preparation, centered around CSP and ambitious teaching practices. In addition, the evidence offered by Loyola’s model will add to the literature regarding effective induction methods. The transformation of educational experiences that diverse students encounter in STEM must begin with how the STEM teachers are prepared. Loyola’s Noyce program aims to make a substantial impact on students’ schooling in mathematics and science, opening the doors for more students to have access to STEM pathways in the future.

Authors

• Karen L. Terrell, Loyola University Maryland

• Karen Clark, Loyola University Maryland

• Afra Ahmed Hersi, Loyola University Maryland

• Stacy Williams, Loyola University Maryland

• Qi Shi, Loyola University Maryland