Despite heavy investment in STEM (e.g., STEM for ALL), most PK-20 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instruction remains heavily siloed. To date, educators have not agreed on a clear definition of STEM. Is it curriculum or a teaching technique/pedagogy? Can a science lesson be called STEM, even if the other domains are not fully represented? […]
Blog
The ADAPTATIONS blog advances research toward and replication of what works in the STEM education of preservice teachers in high-need school districts through programs’ sharing of evidence-based innovations to encourage adaption by other programs and move forward collective evolution of effective STEM teacher preparation.
STEM Teacher Preparation as a Process of Purposeful Disruption and Rebuilding
“…new designs for teacher professional learning cannot simply be innovative; they must be disruptive” – Ann Rosebery, Co-Director, Chèche Konnen Center, 2016 Students in underserved schools, particularly minoritized students, are often denied opportunities to participate and excel in STEM fields. Sadly, such students’ academic abilities and life experiences tend to be seen as seen as […]
Bulldozing the STEM Silos in Omaha While Engaging P-12 Teachers and Building Campus STEM Excellence
It has been said that all universities “do STEM these days,” but what exactly does it take to “do STEM” well? Questions commonly heard on a university campus include: “What is the STEM context for inquiry?”, “Should P-16 STEM be a campus priority?”, “How can a we break down departmental silos for interdisciplinary workforce development?” […]
Return on Investment:
How do we know if we are preparing teachers who are ready for today’s classrooms?
Teacher preparation is a heavily resourced venture with investments from multiple stakeholders. Teacher candidates invest greatly of their effort and money, faculty time and expertise are allocated by teacher preparation programs, funds are provided from the institutions, contributions are made by partner P-12 schools, and we cannot forget the high stakes of effectively educating our […]
Reflecting On Our Roots – Part Seventeen: Teachers for the 21st Century
This essay was originally published in the NSF INCLUDES Open Forum and is published here with permission of the author. Reflecting On Our Roots is a series of essays outlining some of the historical context of the field of broadening participation. As the time for “back to school” comes around I remember the excitement of […]
