Utilizing Wrap Around Mentorship and Virtual Reality to Prepare and Sustain STEM Teachers in Rural High-Need Schools

利用环绕式指导和虚拟现实来培养和维持农村高需求学校的 STEM 教师

• 批准号: 2344941
• 负责人: Andrea Campbell
• 金额: $ 231.77万
• 依托单位: Concord University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-01 至 2030-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2344941&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Utilizing; Wrap; Around; Mentorship; Virtual

The project aims to serve the national need of increasing and retaining STEM teachers who have cutting-edge pedagogical skills, content knowledge, and dispositions required to teach in rural, high-need classrooms. West Virginia schools have difficulty filling teaching vacancies in STEM fields. The proposed project will provide insight into the successful recruitment, preparation, and retention of STEM professionals who have chosen to pursue a career in STEM education. One-third of teachers in WV leave the field within their first four years on the job. Such challenges have impacted student performance resulting in extremely low math and science proficiency scores. It is estimated ~9,600 rural P-12 students could be directly impacted through the duration of this project. To achieve the project’s objectives, Concord University (CU) will deliver an online Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) curriculum, implement a comprehensive wrap around mentorship program utilizing a virtual platform to connect a multidisciplinary team of mentors with the TFs, develop and maintain a Professional Learning Community (PLC), and incorporate the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology within the MAT curriculum. Furthermore, CU will utilize the virtual platform as well as data management software for ongoing mentoring and tracking of TFs as they fill STEM teaching positions in rural high-need P-12 schools.This project at Concord University includes partnerships with Mercer, McDowell, and Summers County Schools, SIBME, and the West Virginia Science Teachers Association. Project goals include (1) recruit and advance 16 STEM professionals as Teaching Fellows (TFs) to become STEM educators within rural, high-need schools and (2) provide comprehensive mentoring and supports to TFs to ensure persistence and retention through their MAT program and induction. The project will incorporate cutting-edge technology for TFs and P-12 student in rural high-need schools and establish effective methods for supporting TFs hired in STEM teaching positions. The work will be evaluated by Brockport Research Institute. The evaluation will include mixed method quantitative and qualitative analyses of data collected from surveys, interviews, extant data, and document review. The project team will disseminate project outcomes and findings on a project website and at regional and national conferences. An emphasis will be placed on sharing key lessons learned, incorporating the use of VR in the classroom, and sharing the project blueprint to assist other districts dealing with similar challenges. This Track 2: Teaching Fellowships project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目旨在满足国家增加和留住 STEM 教师的需求，这些教师拥有在西弗吉尼亚州高需求农村学校教学所需的尖端教学技能、内容知识和性格，以填补 STEM 领域的教学空缺。拟议的项目将深入了解选择从事 STEM 教育职业的 STEM 专业人员的成功招聘、准备和保留。西弗吉尼亚州三分之一的教师在工作的头四年内就离开了这一领域。已经影响了学生的数学和科学能力分数极低，估计约 9,600 名农村 P-12 学生在该项目期间可能会受到直接影响。为了实现该项目的目标，康科德大学 (CU) 将提供在线硕士学位。艺术教学 (MAT) 课程，利用虚拟平台将多学科导师团队与 TF 连接起来，实施全面的环绕式指导计划，开发和维护专业学习社区 (PLC)，并结合虚拟现实的使用此外，CU 将利用虚拟平台和数据管理软件对 TF 进行持续指导和跟踪，因为他们填补了农村高需求 P-12 学校的 STEM 教学职位​​。这个项目在 Concord 进行。大学与 Mercer、McDowell 和 Summers County Schools、SIBME 以及西弗吉尼亚科学教师协会建立了合作伙伴关系 项目目标包括 (1) 招募和提升 16 名 STEM 专业人士作为教员 (TF)，成为 STEM 教育者。 (2) 为 TF 提供全面的指导和支持，以确保通过 MAT 计划和入职培训保持和保留该项目将为农村高需求的 TF 和 P-12 学生提供尖端技术。学校并建立有效的方法来支持受聘于 STEM 教学岗位的 TF。该工作将由布罗克波特研究所进行评估，评估将包括对从调查、访谈、现有数据和文件审查中收集的数据进行混合方法和定性分析。将要在项目网站以及区域和国家会议上传播项目成果和调查结果，重点是分享重要经验教训，在课堂上使用 VR，并分享项目蓝图，以帮助其他地区应对类似的挑战。第 2 轨道：教学奖学金项目由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划 (Noyce) 支持。诺伊斯计划支持有才华的 STEM 本科专业和专业人士成为高效的 K-12 STEM 教师，并支持经验丰富、堪称典范的 K-12 教师。它还支持高需求学区的 K-12 STEM 教师的有效性和保留率的研究。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的评估被认为值得支持。智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。