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1. Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Educative Making Experiences Redux

   Parrish, Jennifer C.; Higgins, Teresa M.; Taylor, Christina M.; Slykhuis, David A. (October 2020, SITE Interactive Online)

   Langran, E. (Ed.)

   In this descriptive brief paper three science education university faculty and a postdoctoral researcher share the difference between the delivery, execution, and assessment of the same educative making learning opportunities assigned to science education preservice teachers first in face-to-face undergraduate courses taught before the COVID-19 pandemic, and then in an online version of the same courses. This presentation may inform the work of constituents of science and teacher education and maker learning communities who want to employ best practices as they modify curriculum for virtual delivery. (Funding-NSF Grant 1842342.) 

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2. Using mark out poetry to explore preservice teachers’ understanding of computational thinking: A pilot in progress.

   Taylor, C.; Parrish, J.; Slykhuis, D. (January 2021, Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference)

   null; null (Ed.)

   In this descriptive brief paper about work in progress, two science education university faculty and a post-doctoral researcher share an arts-based assessment developed to investigate students’ understanding of computational thinking. The mark out poetry activity was designed for use in an NSF grant funded mixed methods, multi-partner STEM-C research project. Piloted in an undergraduate science teacher education course at a public university, the assessment is intended for later use with public high school juniors and seniors who are partnering in the grant’s work, and likely have little experience with computational thinking. Collected data has the potential to inform the researchers about changes in participants’ understanding of computational thinking over time, as well as the efficacy of the equity-based grant project. This paper includes instructions for the activity, an example of one undergraduate’s work, and a preliminary analysis of the work of the five students in the pilot. This presentation may inform the work of constituents of technological, teacher education, and K-12 learning communities who want to broaden and deepen their assessment practices with the inclusion of qualitative, arts- and equity-based data collection and analysis. (Funding-NSF Grant 1842342.) 

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3. Designing Educative Curriculum Materials for Teacher Educators: Supporting Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Content Knowledge for Teaching About Matter and Its Interactions

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-024-10453-7  

   Hanuscin, Deborah; Borda, Emily; Melton, Josie; Mikeska, Jamie N (February 2024, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education)

   Wu, Hsin-Kai (Ed.)

   Research on teacher educators’ professional learning has gained increasing interest within science education. Curriculum materials have been suggested as a means of supporting teacher learning for several decades but have not yet been examined as a potential tool for supporting the learning of teacher educators. In this paper, we conceptualize a set of design heuristics to guide the development of educative curriculum materials for teacher educators. We illustrate how these heuristics guided the identification of specific educative features, which we included when developing prototype educative curriculum materials for elementary science teacher educators in content and/or method courses to support the development of preservice teachers’ content knowledge for teaching about matter and its interactions. 

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4. FORE: A Student-Centered Framework for Accessible Robotics Education through Simulation and Interactive Learning

   Jamali, H; Debolt, A; Dalton, H; Layosa, J; Macy, I; Shill, P; Feil-Seifer, D; Harris, F; Dascalu, S; Wu, R (June 2025, 2025 ASEE Conference)

   Robotics education is often constrained by the high cost and limited accessibility of physical robots, which can hinder the learning experience for many students. To address this challenge, the Fundamentals of Robotics Education (FORE) project, part of a larger NSF-funded collaborative work, was developed to create an accessible and comprehensive online learning platform. FORE provides a student-centered approach to robotics education, featuring a robust code editor, real-time simulation, and interactive lessons. This paper presents the architecture and implementation of the FORE platform, highlighting its key components, including the backend simulation using Gazebo and ROS2, a frontend visualizer built with Three.js, and the integration of a Python-based coding environment. We discuss the development process, the contributions of the student team, and the challenges encountered during the project. The results demonstrate the platform’s effectiveness in making robotics education more easily available. These findings originate from software testing and utilization by senior computer science students, as well as feedback from participants at the University of Nevada, Reno College of Engineering’s annual Capstone Course Innovation Day. The platform allows students to gain hands-on experience without the need for physical hardware. Its adaptability enables it to serve a broad audience of undergraduate students, offering an encompassing and accessible solution for modern robotics education. 

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5. The Design of a Course to Train STEM Pre-Service Teachers (Work-in-progress)

   Crosby, Garh V; Alaqra, Maram H; Simmons-Brooks, Pamela; Krauss, Morgan; Tornquist, Shelly; Yalvac, Bugrahan (June 2024, ASEE)

   In pre-college levels, integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are often taught by science or mathematics teachers. These teachers lack the engineering and technology background and they do not necessarily use project-based and inquiry-oriented instructional strategies. To close the gap in the qualified STEM education teacher workforce, the authors developed and piloted a novel course to train preservice STEM teachers to effectively employ project-based and inquiry-oriented teaching strategies at pre-college levels. This 3-credit research and design experience course was piloted in the Spring 2023 semester. The preservice STEM teachers, enrolled in the course, engaged in hands-on activities, engineering project-based training, inquiry-based learning techniques through research training, makerspace training, field experience, and mentorship. The course comprised two parts. In part I, the students received research training. In part II, the students engaged in engineering design and makerspace professional development. In this paper, we report on the course design elements and the impact of the course activities on students’ self-efficacy in teaching STEM subjects using emerging technology, as well as their teaching approaches and understanding of student learning. The authors conducted a mixed methods study and collected both qualitative and quantitative data. Preliminary results of the multiyear study are presented. Initial findings indicate a heightened confidence of the students in their ability to deliver STEM content in secondary classrooms. Students improved their teaching approaches and reported positive experiences with the course. 

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