This panel session describes the innovative UTeach mathematics and science undergraduate teacher preparation program at UMass Lowell (UML). To enhance UML’s contribution to the community by producing effective mathematics and science teachers who not only are highly knowledgeable in their disciplines, but also can engage students through scientific inquiry instruction, UTeach employs a series of unique courses and a model of instruction based on the 5Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate). Our panel presentation will describe the conceptualization of two of the UTeach courses, while showcasing student work to answer the question of whether the program achieves the goal of enhancing course enrollees’ development of pedagogical skills in delivering inquiry-based instruction.
Our presentation will introduce the audience to two National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded programs at Northeastern University: Proactive Recruitment in Science and Mathematics (PRISM) and Mathematics and Science Talent (MST). Our panel includes two principal investigators, a participating student, and the external evaluator. The presentation will benefit university faculty, administrators, admissions officers, and students who are interested in strategies to engage STEM majors from traditionally underserved populations and students interested in inter-disciplinary work. Both PRISM and MST were designed to support STEM majors from recruitment to graduation through community-building, inter-disciplinary coursework, and research opportunities. While PRISM focused more broadly on students interested in pursuing STEM majors and careers, MST included students from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds. The evaluations of both projects found that the students valued both programs and were more likely to choose and stay with a STEM major when compared to students who had not participated. While MST and PRISM required significant funding for full-scale implementation, our session will include lessons learned that can be adapted and immediately used with and without financial support. We hope that during our presentation, audience members will share their own experiences with similar initiatives and we will engage in a discussion that will benefit students from diverse backgrounds in building successful STEM careers, in college and beyond.
The primary purpose of exams is to assess student learning and mastery of course content. But, it can be argued that too much emphasis is placed on exams by both students and instructors. This often leads to stress and anxiety on the part of the student and to “teaching to the exam” by the instructor. Additionally, students often prepare for exams by ‘cramming’ last minute or by rote practice of course content. Neither approach leads to long-lasting learning, and knowledge gained by these approaches is rarely retained. This session will explore an alternative to traditional exams that can assess and fortify student learning, but do so in a less stressful way. Student electronic reports (eReports) are completely student-generated and multi-media in nature. Students summarize and condense the most critical content from course units into 20-30 minute stand-alone multi-media presentations/video files. An accurate and effective eReport arguably demonstrates student comprehension of the course material. This session will begin with introducing eReports as an assignment type. It will then move on to provide guidance for assigning and explaining eReports to students. Examples from other students’ eReports will be shared, as will methods and rubrics for eReport grading and assessment. The session will end with the results of a study on the student learning impact of creating eReports. It is expected that session attendees will leave with enough information to decide if eReports are a superior alternative to traditional exams, and, if so, be comfortable adopting eReports for use in their own classes.
This presentation will be helpful for universities wanting to develop or improve their service learning-based community partnerships while developing STEM awareness and knowledge in their elementary and middle school students (3rd-8th graders) as part of an interactive afterschool program. We will share experiences, lessons learned, challenges in building these relationships, highlights of the curriculum and resources used, and the impact this work has on the middle school students. We will also discuss the training and development of Merrimack student volunteers who work with the 3rd through 8th grade students in an urban setting for 10 weeks each semester. Lastly, we will examine the impact of curriculum enhancements on our middle school students’ attitudes, motivation and interest in Science and STEM related careers and the impact of curriculum enhancements on our middle school students’ attitudes, motivation and interest in Science and STEM related careers through our PEAR Common Instrument results.
How can we re-imagine STEM teacher education? We invite STEM educators to participate in a design-based workshop focused on the Woodrow Wilson Academy (the WW Academy). The WW Academy is a competency-based teacher education program with an innovative curriculum that provides real world contexts for learning for teacher candidates. A small pilot class of teacher candidates will start the program in the summer of 2017. Come engage in design thinking to help WW Academy and MIT staff puzzle through exciting design challenges they are facing in developing the teacher education program. During the workshop you will: (a) learn more about the WW Academy and our design process and (b) test and provide insightful and invaluable feedback about components of our program that are grounded in your own experience of teaching and learning.
