Increasing Teacher Awareness of STEM Careers

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Published: Aug 14, 2018
Keywords:
Integrated STEM education teacher professional development technology education community of practice STEM careers

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J. Geoff Knowles
Ivy Tech Community College
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6696-058X
Todd R. Kelley
Purdue University
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3620-7017
Jeff D. Holland
Purdue University
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4889-6363

Abstract

Teacher awareness of STEM careers impacts students as they consider career choices. Researchers examined the effects of teacher professional development and lesson implementation in integrated science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) on teacher awareness of STEM careers. Study subjects were high school science and engineering/technology teachers participating in a ten-day, 70-hour summer professional development institute (PROJECT NAME) designed to educate teachers in adopting an integrated STEM education model. The study used a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design that incorporated an experimental group and an untreated control group with both pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest assessments of non-randomized participants. Researchers analyzed changes in scores on the T-STEM survey of STEM career awareness using cumulative link mixed models (CLMM). STEM career awareness increased for teachers participating in professional development and the degree of change varied by group and assessment time.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 19 No. 3 (2018)
Section
Articles
Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the Institute for STEM Education and Research with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
Author Biographies

J. Geoff Knowles, Ivy Tech Community College

J. Geoff Knowles is the Executive Director of Instructional Sites & Institutional Research for Ivy Tech Community College Lafayette. He is also an Associate Professor in Engineering & Technology. His research focus is in integrated STEM education. Knowles is currently a Co-PI on an NSF I-TEST project called Teachers and Researchers Advancing Integrated Lessons in STEM (TRAILS). TRAILS prepares science and technology education teachers to integrate STEM content through biomimicry inspired engineering design within the context of entomology.

Todd R. Kelley, Purdue University

Todd R. Kelley is an Associate Professor in the department of Technology Leadership and Innovation at Purdue University. Prior to joining Purdue, Kelley was a high school and middle school technology education teacher for nine years teaching in three school districts in New York state and Indiana. Dr. Kelley's research focus is in design and cognition seeking to better understand how young students learn design and how design improves STEM education. Kelley is currently the PI on an NSF I-Test project called Teachers and Researchers Advancing Integrated Lessons in STEM (TRAILS). TRAILS prepares science and technology education teachers to integrate STEM content through biomimicry inspired engineering design within the context of entomology.

Jeff D. Holland, Purdue University

Jeffrey Holland is the head of the landscape ecology & biodiversity laboratory in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University. He specializes in extensive fieldwork, spatial analysis, biodiversity, entomology, and landscape ecology. His everyday tools are R programming, GIS, multivariate and spatial statistics, and three-dimensional rendering for images and animations. He does consulting work on habitat and spatial population dynamics of animals and on statistical analysis.