Board 137: Engineering Pathways for P-12 Teacher Preparation

Thomas J. Siller; Michael A. de Miranda; Elizabeth Deuermeyer

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Page Count: 4
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--29933
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/29933
Download Count: 355

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Paper Authors

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Thomas J. Siller Colorado State University orcid.org/0000-0002-0567-0631

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Tom Siller is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineerign at Colorado State University. He has been a faculty member at CSU for 29 years.

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Michael A. de Miranda Texas A&M University

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Professor, Claude H. Everett, Jr. '47 Endowed Chair in Science and Engineering and Head Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture. Texas A&M UniversityUniversity, College Station, TX USA

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Elizabeth Deuermeyer Texas A&M University

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Assistant Research Scientist
Department of Visualization

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Abstract

When the preparation of the next generation of STEM teachers is discussed in education circles, few think of teachers earning an engineering degree as a pathway to entering the teaching profession. Teachers prepared with an engineering degree are well equipped to help young learners “connect the STEM dots” through design, problem solving, experimentation, making, and understanding the balance between the designed and natural world in which they live. STEM learning is often abstract and STEM subjects are too often taught in isolation without reference and meaningful connections. This NSF-IUSE project broadens the STEM learning landscape by emphasizing integrated STEM (iSTEM) teacher preparation that includes integrated design (iDesign) across STEM subjects by not only preparing a new type of engineering trained teachers, but redesigning the traditional STEM teacher preparation model to include cross STEM discipline teacher preparation that emphasizes content border crossings and prepares teachers to work in cross functional diversity teams in schools. The project integrates new design projects in the engineering curricula for pre-service STEM teachers and a new cross-discipline STEM methods course that will serve as a model for other institutions to adopt.

Results from a summer workshop are presented that develop a wide range of approaches for new engineering pathways for pre-service teacher preparation. Participating schools were chosen to represent diverse regions of the U.S. This paper discusses: • What structures and collaboration are possible and what would the interaction between engineering and education departments look like? • What incentives might need to be in place to make this engineering-education collaboration work effectively? • How might it be implemented across different institutions of higher education?

Preparing teachers through an engineering degree pathway and cross‐training STEM teachers opens a whole new perspective to STEM teaching, learning, and research. Research conducted in this project is designed to unpack and measure two new inventive frontiers in STEM learning; 1) STEM associational fluency and 2) teaching and learning in cross-functional STEM diversity teams. STEM associational fluency in teachers is the teacher’s ability to fluidly and deeply apply STEM content and contexts while designing and delivering instruction. Scales designed and tested include the expansion and refinement of an iSTEM scale to measure STEM associational fluency in teachers. Teaching and learning in cross-functional design teams incorporates teams of STEM teachers from the varied STEM disciplines learning to blueprint (make explicit) disciplinary grounded content, co‐plan, and design integrated design (iDesign) interventions that require students to apply cross cutting STEM content, concepts, and practices within a design or problem-‐based learning context. A new iDesign scale to measure and assess teacher’s cross-functional iDesign interventions was designed and tested.

Citation
Format

Siller, T. J., & de Miranda, M. A., & Deuermeyer, E. (2018, June), Board 137: Engineering Pathways for P-12 Teacher Preparation Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29933

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - When the preparation of the next generation of STEM teachers  is discussed in education circles, few think of teachers earning an engineering degree as  a  pathway to  entering  the  teaching  profession.  Teachers  prepared  with  an  engineering  degree  are  well  equipped  to  help  young  learners “connect  the  STEM  dots”  through  design,  problem  solving,  experimentation,  making,  and  understanding  the balance  between  the  designed  and  natural  world in  which  they  live. STEM  learning is often  abstract  and  STEM subjects  are  too  often  taught  in  isolation  without  reference  and  meaningful  connections.  This NSF-IUSE  project  broadens  the  STEM  learning  landscape  by  emphasizing  integrated  STEM  (iSTEM)  teacher  preparation  that  includes  integrated  design  (iDesign)  across  STEM  subjects  by  not  only  preparing a  new  type  of  engineering  trained  teachers,  but  redesigning  the  traditional  STEM  teacher  preparation  model  to  include  cross  STEM  discipline  teacher  preparation  that  emphasizes  content  border  crossings  and  prepares  teachers  to  work  in  cross  functional  diversity  teams  in  schools. The  project  integrates  new design  projects  in  the  engineering  curricula  for  pre-service  STEM  teachers  and  a  new  cross-discipline  STEM  methods  course  that  will  serve  as  a  model  for  other  institutions  to  adopt.

Results from a summer workshop are presented that develop a wide range of approaches for new engineering pathways for pre-service teacher preparation. Participating schools were chosen to  represent diverse regions of the U.S. This paper discusses:
•	What structures and collaboration are possible and what would the interaction between engineering and education departments look like?
•	What incentives might need to be in place to make this engineering-education collaboration work effectively?
•	How might it be implemented across different institutions of higher education?

Preparing  teachers through  an  engineering  degree  pathway  and  cross‐training  STEM  teachers  opens  a  whole  new  perspective  to  STEM  teaching,  learning,  and  research. Research  conducted  in  this  project  is  designed  to  unpack  and  measure two  new  inventive  frontiers  in  STEM  learning; 1)  STEM  associational  fluency  and  2)  teaching  and  learning  in  cross-functional  STEM  diversity  teams.  STEM  associational  fluency  in  teachers  is the  teacher’s  ability  to  fluidly  and  deeply  apply STEM  content  and  contexts  while  designing  and  delivering  instruction. Scales  designed  and  tested include  the  expansion  and  refinement  of  an  iSTEM  scale to  measure  STEM  associational  fluency  in  teachers.  Teaching  and  learning  in  cross-functional  design  teams  incorporates teams  of  STEM  teachers  from  the  varied  STEM  disciplines  learning  to  blueprint  (make  explicit)  disciplinary  grounded  content,  co‐plan,  and  design  integrated  design  (iDesign)  interventions  that  require  students  to  apply  cross  cutting  STEM  content,  concepts,  and  practices within  a  design  or  problem-‐based  learning  context. A  new  iDesign  scale  to  measure  and  assess  teacher’s  cross-functional  iDesign  interventions  was  designed  and  tested. 

AU  - Thomas J. Siller
AU  - Michael A. de Miranda
AU  - Elizabeth Deuermeyer
CY  - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA  - 2018/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 137: Engineering Pathways for P-12 Teacher Preparation
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/29933
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--29933
ER  -