Through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program, Westminster College seeks to increase the number of talented STEM teachers in high-need public, secondary schools (grades 7-12) in western Pennsylvania. Over the course of funding 20 students will receive scholarships during their junior and senior years to complete a STEM major and an education minor in order to become certified science teachers. Several strategies will be used to ensure that these pre-service teachers will be trained to meet the needs of the community including (a) implementation of a new course on teaching STEM in high-need areas, (b) increasing the practicum experiences, and (c) providing students with opportunities to improve their content knowledge through experiential learning. The recruitment plan involves interactions with high school students during the college's Careers in Science Workshop and Scholarship Days and providing freshmen and sophomores with summer internships. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Sharon City, Farrell Area, Union Area, and New Castle Area school districts.
The Noyce Scholars will take part in a redesigned program of study based on a Winchester college assessment of the existing needs of high-need schools in the region. Students will take an innovative course on Teaching in Areas of High Need in which they will implement research-based strategies and participate in a practicum in a high-need school science class. This course will be preceded by a general practicum during the sophomore year followed by a specialized practicum in the junior year. Students will also participate in a capstone, discipline-specific research experience and education research in order to better prepare them as scientists and teachers. Data generated through assessment and evaluation should support the rationale that students who have had a variety of experiential learning opportunities will have increased content knowledge and students who have had early exposure to high needs classrooms will become more effective teachers in these schools. Formative and summative evaluation will focus on whether or not the project objectives have been met and the effectiveness of project activities. Assessment of students' progress and performance will include both qualitative and quantitative data collected through entry and exit questionnaires, praxis and Pearson test scores, pre-service and post-service observations, participant evaluations, and learning process analyses. Dissemination of the project results will provide a model for using research as a motivator and tool for training future STEM teachers. The project team plans to present their work through annual meetings of the National Council for the Teachers of Math and the National Council for the Teachers of Science, among others and through publication of research and evaluation findings in journals such as the Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of Technology, and Teacher Education. Project deliverables will include results of summative evaluation and the new course materials.
