This project involves the Purdue University Colleges of Science, Education, Engineering and Technology in a partnership with Crawfordsville, Logansport, and Benton County schools, all small town and rural districts. Up to 35 science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) majors are being helped by this Noyce project in their efforts to become high school science and mathematics teachers. Support is provided through scholarships (some with one year of aid and others with two years of aid, reflecting the years remaining to the student's degree when the scholarships are first awarded) and through a program designed for them in cooperation with other existing and emerging programs for STEM teacher workforce development at Purdue. The Purdue Center for Research and Engagement in Science and Mathematics Education (CRESME), a joint effort between the Colleges of Science and Education, is taking the lead in this effort, aided by other educational research units on the Purdue campus, including the Colleges of Technology and Engineering, and the Discovery Learning Center. The program is improving STEM education within small, rural school districts around Purdue and is providing insights that may be extended to similar rural settings around the nation.
Intellectual Merit: Educational research-oriented centers and departments on campus are working with teacher preparation and new teacher support programs and the Noyce project to recruit talented STEM undergraduates to teaching careers. They are working with the students, helping them explore the educational issues in their technical fields while at Purdue, especially in rural communities, and supporting them programmatically during their initial teaching years. The Noyce Scholars are being housed intellectually within CRESME. which is responsible for project infrastructure, curricula and course design, and for tracking of the scholars in order to determine project outcomes. As part of their teacher preparation program Noyce Scholars are participating in senior thesis projects (conducting research as assistants in existing STEM education research efforts in their disciplines) and a special Noyce seminar course. They are also being provided with a network of support and mentoring both while they are at Purdue and after they begin their teaching careers.
Broader Impacts: Through dissemination of lessons learned from this project, Purdue is improving its ability to provide STEM teachers with education services and is providing direct outreach assistance to the increasingly diverse underserved rural and small town communities of Indiana and educational models for use throughout Indiana and the nation.
