Effects of Hands-On Research Experience and Supplementary Sessions on Confidence in Teaching STEM-Related Skills

Chelsey Simmons; Beth L Pruitt; Kaye Storm; Gary Lichtenstein

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Conference: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Vancouver, BC
Publication Date: June 26, 2011
Start Date: June 26, 2011
End Date: June 29, 2011
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Integrating Technical Research into Professional Development and K-12 Classrooms
Tagged Division: K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
Page Count: 10
Page Numbers: 22.542.1 - 22.542.10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--17823
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/17823
Download Count: 410

Paper Authors

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Chelsey Simmons Stanford University orcid.org/0000-0001-6973-9813

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Chelsey Simmons is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. Her primary research explores microsystems for cardiovascular biology applications. Chelsey is minoring in Education and serves as the Vice President of External Relations for Stanford's ASEE Student Chapter. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Harvard in 2006 and M.S. from Stanford in 2010.

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Beth L Pruitt Stanford University

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Kaye Storm Stanford University

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Kaye Storm joined Stanford University as the Director of the Office of Science Outreach in January 2008. Prior to that time, she was the founding Executive Director and later the Director of Special Projects at Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME), an educational nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in professional development for science, math, engineering and technology teachers.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California and a Master’s degree in Education from Stanford University.

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Gary Lichtenstein

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Gary Lichtenstein, Ed.D., is founder and principal of Quality Evaluation Designs, a firm specializing in education research and program evaluation.

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Abstract

Effects of Hands-On Research Experience and Supplementary Sessions on Confidence in Teaching STEM-Related SkillsResearch studies show that teacher participation in laboratory-based professional developmentpromotes student achievement in a variety of measures. However, it is unclear which aspects ofsuch programs directly impact students. Exploratory, mixed methods investigations suggest thatteachers’ confidence in subject matter related to laboratory experiences may be a factor thatinfluences student outcomes. The current study therefore explored whether teachers’participation in science, math, and engineering-related laboratory experiences increased theirteaching and/or subject matter confidence.The Engineering Research Experience for Teachers (ERET) program was created to exposescience teachers, and indirectly their students, to engineering disciplines and the ways basicengineering concepts relate to science and math curricula. The goal of ERET is to increase theinterest and proficiency in science and engineering among students by providing a rich andvaried in-depth research experience to their teachers. The program promotes this goal by: 1. Placing teachers directly into laboratories with specific research assignments; 2. Exposing teachers to a variety of disciplines and applications through faculty lectures; 3. Assisting teachers with curriculum development through collaboration with Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME); and 4. Providing workshops to deepen teachers’ proficiency in specific professional practices of scientists and engineers.We assessed multiple dimensions of teacher confidence before and after teachers participated inERET. Preliminary data from surveys taken in summer 2009 indicate that teachers feelsignificantly less confident in their ability to teach common professional practices than they doregular classroom material (Table 1). We administered the survey again at the beginning ofsummer 2010 and the conclusion of summer 2010, and, interestingly, teacher confidence levelsdid not change significantly after participation in the program. In the final paper, we will sharequalitative data to explain these findings and explore other methods that may be more effectivein assessing a program’s impact.Table 1: Teacher Confidence Levels Prior to Participation in ERET Average Normalized Confidence in Different Aspects of Teaching Rating1Your knowledge about the application of the subject to everyday life 1.127**Your ability to make presentations at in-services or professional 1.127meetingsYour ability to use inquiry-based instructional practices 1.058Your ability to supervise student research projects 1.002Your ability to link course content to applications in professional 1.002settingsAverage Confidence 1.000Your ability to teach students how to lead effective 0.962discussions/presentationsYour ability to conceive of and supervise long-term, collaborative 0.866*group projectsYour ability to teach students to read and synthesize literature from 0.857*the field1. Average confidence score was calculated for each teacher based on mean of eight responseson Likert scale for the different aspects of teaching. Normalized rating was calculated for eachteacher by dividing their Likert score by their Average Confidence. Reported number is average(n = 21) of all normalized ratings. Wilcoxon signed-rank non-parametric comparison of meansestablished significance of average normalized rating above or below average confidence scoreof 1.000 as indicated.**p-value < 0.005, *p-value < 0.05

Citation
Format

Simmons, C., & Pruitt, B. L., & Storm, K., & Lichtenstein, G. (2011, June), Effects of Hands-On Research Experience and Supplementary Sessions on Confidence in Teaching STEM-Related Skills Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--17823

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -          Effects of Hands-On Research Experience and Supplementary           Sessions on Confidence in Teaching STEM-Related SkillsResearch studies show that teacher participation in laboratory-based professional developmentpromotes student achievement in a variety of measures. However, it is unclear which aspects ofsuch programs directly impact students. Exploratory, mixed methods investigations suggest thatteachers’ confidence in subject matter related to laboratory experiences may be a factor thatinfluences student outcomes. The current study therefore explored whether teachers’participation in science, math, and engineering-related laboratory experiences increased theirteaching and/or subject matter confidence.The Engineering Research Experience for Teachers (ERET) program was created to exposescience teachers, and indirectly their students, to engineering disciplines and the ways basicengineering concepts relate to science and math curricula. The goal of ERET is to increase theinterest and proficiency in science and engineering among students by providing a rich andvaried in-depth research experience to their teachers. The program promotes this goal by:    1. Placing teachers directly into laboratories with specific research assignments;    2. Exposing teachers to a variety of disciplines and applications through faculty lectures;    3. Assisting teachers with curriculum development through collaboration with Industry        Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME); and    4. Providing workshops to deepen teachers’ proficiency in specific professional practices of        scientists and engineers.We assessed multiple dimensions of teacher confidence before and after teachers participated inERET. Preliminary data from surveys taken in summer 2009 indicate that teachers feelsignificantly less confident in their ability to teach common professional practices than they doregular classroom material (Table 1). We administered the survey again at the beginning ofsummer 2010 and the conclusion of summer 2010, and, interestingly, teacher confidence levelsdid not change significantly after participation in the program. In the final paper, we will sharequalitative data to explain these findings and explore other methods that may be more effectivein assessing a program’s impact.Table 1: Teacher Confidence Levels Prior to Participation in ERET                                                                        Average Normalized           Confidence in Different Aspects of Teaching                                                                             Rating1Your knowledge about the application of the subject to everyday life           1.127**Your ability to make presentations at in-services or professional                                                                                 1.127meetingsYour ability to use inquiry-based instructional practices                        1.058Your ability to supervise student research projects                              1.002Your ability to link course content to applications in professional                                                                                 1.002settingsAverage Confidence                                                               1.000Your ability to teach students how to lead effective                                                                                 0.962discussions/presentationsYour ability to conceive of and supervise long-term, collaborative                                                                                0.866*group projectsYour ability to teach students to read and synthesize literature from                                                                                  0.857*the field1. Average confidence score was calculated for each teacher based on mean of eight responseson Likert scale for the different aspects of teaching. Normalized rating was calculated for eachteacher by dividing their Likert score by their Average Confidence. Reported number is average(n = 21) of all normalized ratings. Wilcoxon signed-rank non-parametric comparison of meansestablished significance of average normalized rating above or below average confidence scoreof 1.000 as indicated.**p-value &lt; 0.005, *p-value &lt; 0.05
AU  - Chelsey Simmons
AU  - Beth L Pruitt
AU  - Kaye Storm
AU  - Gary Lichtenstein
CY  - Vancouver, BC
DA  - 2011/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Effects of Hands-On Research Experience and Supplementary Sessions on Confidence in Teaching STEM-Related Skills
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/17823
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--17823
ER  -