Research Experience for K-5 Educators to Enrich the STEM Ecosystem by Producing Accessible Curricula Based on National Standards
Year: 2024
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Introduction: The STEM pipeline is a metaphor used to describe the recruitment and retention of students through STEM education. Early in this STEM pipeline, elementary educators' attitudes towards STEM have a significant impact on their students' attitudes and confidence in STEM subjects. They have the unique opportunity to integrate multiple subjects including science, engineering, math, and language arts. However, there is inadequate exposure for K-5 educators to confidently support STEM interests and skills in their classrooms. This indicates a clear need for professional development (PD) experiences in STEM education that will build a strong foundation and confidence for elementary educators. Out of 53 Research Experience for Teachers sites that are actively funded by the National Science Foundation, only seven programs include K-5 educators, with ours being the only one exclusively developed for K-5 educators. The goal of this Multidisciplinary Research Experience for Teachers (MRET) program is to increase interest and preparedness for K-5 educators and translate local community impacts to the national stage by creating accessible curricula based on national standards for educators across the nation. Methods: We established a centralized Scientist-Teacher Partnership (STP) in which all educators were embedded in one dedicated teaching laboratory for six weeks. The participants were team-taught by a collection of university faculty and undergraduate student scientist mentors. The K-5 educators were exposed to tissue engineering concepts and taught how to mechanically characterize samples and fabricate hydrogels. They used STEM concepts and engineering design principles to mimic native tissue properties in hydrogels. They read experimental journal articles, documented laboratory work in notebooks, and shared project results with poster presentations. The direct relationship between K-5 educators and scientist mentors allowed for the integration of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into their research experience. Educators were encouraged to ask questions, analyze data, design solutions, and obtain, evaluate, and communicate information. This structure facilitated relationships and scientific debates that deepened their understanding of the engineering problem and process. The educators had authentic engineering experience in the centralized teaching laboratory during morning sessions, followed by afternoon sessions dedicated to curriculum development. The K-5 educators integrated the engineering design skills into classroom applications by creating STEM-inspired curricula, which facilitated technical and PD relationships. Results and Discussion: This integrated technical and PD relationship produced enhanced lesson development, which is submitted to TeachEngineering (TE), a digital library comprised of standards-aligned engineering curricula for K-12 educators developed and tested by university faculties, students, and K-12 educators across the nation. TE incorporates NGSS which emphasizes on the importance of integrating engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. To date, our MRET program has published 23 curricula on TE and incorporated 58 NGSS standards with an exclusive focus on K-5 curricula. Conclusions & Future: All K-5 educators have free access to TE curricula and can collaborate locally or with educators across the globe. Nationally, the curricula our MRET alumni produced can inspire other educators with classroom experiments that meet the NGSS. In the three previous offerings of our program, we followed a decentralized STP model in which the individual educators were embedded in research laboratories and worked with a graduate student scientist mentor within a university research group. Our current offering uses a centralized STP model which we believe provides K-5 educators with a more thorough understanding of STEM concepts and practices and provides a more authentic experience in integrating engineering and language arts. We are currently exploring if the centralized versus decentralized program model impacts the TE curricula outcome such as science content, engineering design, and science terminologies developed by participating teachers. Acknowledgments: National Science Foundation Grant - Engineering Education and Centers (EEC)
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42079
Institution: University of Florida
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4391577888