Developing Highly Qualified Middle Grades Teachers With Expertise in STEM Disciplines via SUSTAINS

Melissa M. Bilec; Daniel Mosse; Margaret S. Smith; Jennifer L Cartier

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: NSF Grantees’ Poster Session
Tagged Division: Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies
Tagged Topic: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 7
Page Numbers: 24.402.1 - 24.402.7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--20293
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/20293
Download Count: 425

Paper Authors

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Melissa M. Bilec University of Pittsburgh

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Dr. Bilec is an assistant professor in the Swanson School of Engineering’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Bilec’s research program focuses on sustainable healthcare, the built environment, and life cycle assessment. She is interested in improving the overall environmental performance of buildings while connecting the occupants in a more thoughtful manner. She is the Principal Investigator in a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research project, NSF EFRI-Barriers, Understanding, Integration – Life cycle Development (BUILD). She has worked in the sustainable engineering arena since 2004. As the assistant director of education outreach in the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Pitt’s center for green design, she translates research to community outreach programs and develops sustainable engineering programs for K-12 education.

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Daniel Mosse University of Pittsburgh

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Margaret S. Smith University of Pittsburgh

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Margaret Smith holds a joint appointment at the University of Pittsburgh as Professor of Mathematics Education in the School of Education and Senior Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center. Her research focuses on what teachers learn from the professional education experiences in which they engage. Smith’s current research is examining the extent to which beginning teachers learn to plan lessons that build on student's mathematical thinking and the experiences in which they engage that support that learning.

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Jennifer L Cartier University of Pittsburgh

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Dr. Cartier joined the Department of Instruction and Learning in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh as a Science Education faculty member in 2001. She has been the Principal Investigator on two longitudinal NSF-funded research projects that investigate how elementary teachers develop the capacity to design and support student engagement in cognitively challenging science learning contexts. Dr. Cartier is currently studying how secondary science teachers develop pedagogical design capacity through participation in carefully scaffolded role-play scenarios and other approximations of pedagogical practice. Since January of 2012, Dr. Cartier has served as the Director of Teacher Education at the University of Pittsburgh, spearheading the design of innovative components of the secondary teacher preparation curriculum such as explicit training in relationship-building skills, adolescent social-emotional learning needs, and mindfulness practices that build teachers' capacity to engage in responsive teaching. With support from NSF's Noyce program, Dr. Cartier is currently collaborating with faculty across the University of Pittsburgh to design a middle grades teacher preparation program that focuses on sustainability.

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Abstract

ASEE 2014 Abstract Authors: Melissa Bilec, Jennifer Cartier, Mark Collins, Meryl Lazar, Daniel Mosse, Margaret S. Smith Developing Highly Qualified Middle Grades Teachers With Expertise in STEM Disciplines via SUSTAINS Beginning in 2012, teacher educators throughout Pennsylvania launched programs to prepare teachers who specialize in middle grades (4-‐8). This new state-‐approved certification track will replace the current elementary track (K-‐6) and overlap with the existing secondary track (7-‐12). Camblin (2003) reminds us that “the middle grades, those enrolling 10-‐ to 14-‐year-‐old students, have an important relationship to college access. The middle grades are when students, families, and school personnel begin to address career aspirations, academic preparation, and college information.” The Commonwealth’s new emphasis on highly qualified middle grades teachers provides a unique opportunity to impact children at a crucial time in their formal education experience (Fleming, 2011). In our project, we are aiming to (1) develop a program (SUSTAINS, STEM Undergraduate Students Teaching Adolescents Innovation and Sustainability) that will allow undergraduate STEM majors at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to interact with young adolescents in formal and informal learning contexts and to engage with peers and faculty members around issues pertaining to K-‐12 education; (2) develop a state-‐approved, one-‐year Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program to prepare middle grades (4-‐8) teachers who will specialize in mathematics and/or science; (3) integrate issues related to sustainability across the undergraduate and teacher preparation programs; and (4) expand our capacity for faculty in the Schools of Education, Arts & Sciences, and Engineering to collaborate on program and course design. We expect that these capacity-‐building will help address the need for middle grades math and science teachers by developing a program to attract college STEM majors into the teaching profession and by developing a rigorous middle grades teacher preparation program that reflects core commitments of effective middle grades educators. We will present our progress thus far related to SUSTAINS community building and program development. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation Noyce Teacher Scholarships, Project NO. 1240000.

Citation
Format

Bilec, M. M., & Mosse, D., & Smith, M. S., & Cartier, J. L. (2014, June), Developing Highly Qualified Middle Grades Teachers With Expertise in STEM Disciplines via SUSTAINS Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--20293

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                                                            ASEE  2014  Abstract           Authors:  Melissa  Bilec,  Jennifer  Cartier,  Mark  Collins,  Meryl  Lazar,  Daniel  Mosse,  Margaret  S.                                                                    Smith                Developing  Highly  Qualified  Middle  Grades  Teachers  With  Expertise  in  STEM  Disciplines  via                                                             SUSTAINS      Beginning  in  2012,  teacher  educators  throughout  Pennsylvania  launched  programs  to  prepare  teachers  who  specialize  in  middle  grades  (4-‐8).  This  new  state-‐approved  certification  track  will  replace  the  current  elementary  track  (K-‐6)  and  overlap  with  the  existing  secondary  track  (7-‐12).  Camblin  (2003)  reminds  us  that  “the  middle  grades,  those  enrolling  10-‐  to  14-‐year-‐old  students,  have   an   important   relationship   to   college   access.   The   middle   grades   are   when   students,  families,  and  school  personnel  begin  to  address  career  aspirations,  academic  preparation,  and  college   information.”   The   Commonwealth’s   new   emphasis   on   highly   qualified   middle   grades  teachers   provides   a   unique   opportunity   to   impact   children   at   a   crucial   time   in   their   formal  education  experience  (Fleming,  2011).    In   our   project,   we   are   aiming   to   (1)   develop   a   program   (SUSTAINS,   STEM   Undergraduate  Students   Teaching   Adolescents   Innovation   and   Sustainability)   that   will   allow   undergraduate  STEM  majors  at  the  University  of  Pittsburgh  (Pitt)  to  interact  with  young  adolescents  in  formal  and   informal   learning   contexts   and   to   engage   with   peers   and   faculty   members   around   issues  pertaining   to   K-‐12   education;   (2)   develop   a   state-‐approved,   one-‐year   Masters   of   Arts   in  Teaching   (MAT)   program   to   prepare   middle   grades   (4-‐8)   teachers   who   will   specialize   in  mathematics   and/or   science;   (3)   integrate   issues   related   to   sustainability   across   the  undergraduate   and   teacher   preparation   programs;   and   (4)   expand   our   capacity   for   faculty   in  the   Schools   of   Education,   Arts   &amp;   Sciences,   and   Engineering   to   collaborate   on   program   and  course   design.   We   expect   that   these   capacity-‐building   will   help   address   the   need   for   middle  grades  math  and  science  teachers  by  developing  a  program  to  attract  college  STEM  majors  into  the   teaching   profession   and   by   developing   a   rigorous   middle   grades   teacher   preparation  program  that  reflects  core  commitments  of  effective  middle  grades  educators.    We  will  present  our  progress  thus  far  related  to  SUSTAINS  community  building  and  program  development.    This  work  is  supported  by  the  National  Science  Foundation  Noyce  Teacher  Scholarships,  Project  NO.  1240000.      
AU  - Melissa M. Bilec
AU  - Daniel Mosse
AU  - Margaret  S. Smith
AU  - Jennifer L Cartier
CY  - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA  - 2014/06/15
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Developing Highly Qualified Middle Grades Teachers With Expertise in STEM Disciplines via SUSTAINS
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/20293
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--20293
ER  -