ERIC Number: EJ1283111
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2227-7102
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Integrated STEM for Teacher Professional Learning and Development: "I Need Time for Practice"
Burrows, Andrea C.; Borowczak, Mike; Myers, Adam; Schwortz, Andria C.; McKim, Courtney
Education Sciences, v11 Article 21 2021
This study compares three pre-collegiate teacher professional learning and development (PLD) integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences framed in astronomy. The study is set in the western United States (USA) and involves 60 pre-collegiate teachers (in the USA these are K-12 teachers) over the course of three years (June 2014-May 2017). During the PLDs, astronomy acted as a vehicle for pre-collegiate STEM teachers to increase their STEM content knowledge as well as create and implement integrated STEM classroom lessons. The authors collected quantitative and qualitative data to address five research questions and embraced social constructionism as the theoretical framework. Findings show that STEM pre-collegiate teachers are largely engaged with integrated STEM PLD content and embrace astronomy content and authentic science. Importantly, they need time to practice, interpret, translate, and use the integrated STEM content in classroom lessons. Recommendations for PLD STEM teacher support are provided. Implications of this study are vast, as gaps in authentic science, utilizing astronomy, PLD structure, and STEM integration are ripe for exploration.
Descriptors: STEM Education, Astronomy, Preservice Teachers, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Preservice Teacher Education, Science Instruction, Hands on Science, Lesson Plans, Cooperation, Student Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1339853
Author Affiliations: N/A