As a result of the increased inclusion of engineering and computer science standards for K-6 schools nationwide, there is a need to better understand how teacher educators can help develop preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) teaching self-efficacy in these areas. Ed+gineering provides novel opportunities for PSTs to experience teaching and learning engineering and coding content by building COVID-companion robots. Growing evidence supports robotics as a powerful approach to STEM learning for PSTs. In this study, Ed+gineering examined three cases to explore this overarching question: In what ways did PSTs’ virtual robotics project experience develop their self-efficacy for teaching engineering and coding? Three PST cases were examined, within the context of their work with other team members (i.e., undergraduate engineering student(s), 5th graders). To understand each of three PSTs’ virtual robotics project experiences, multiple data sources were collected and analyzed which includes mid- and post-semester CATME, end of course short-answer reflections, follow up interviews (including a modified Big Five personality inventory), and Zoom session recordings. Elementary PSTs Brenda, Erica, and Sarah experienced various levels of commitment and engagement in their five Zoom sessions. These factors, along with other personal and external influences, contributed to Bandura’s four identified sources of self-efficacy. This study examines these contributing factors to create an initial working model of how PSTs develop teaching self-efficacy. In this conference session, science teacher educators will learn more about this model and pedagogical decisions that seemed to influence PST’s self-efficacy for teaching engineering and computer science.
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“Zooming In” on Robotics during COVID-19: A Preservice Teacher, an Engineering Student, and a 5th Grader Engineer Robotic Flowers via Zoom
The COVID-19 induced school shutdown dramatically decreased students’ hands-on STEM learning opportunities. An NSF-funded program partnering preservice teachers and undergraduate engineering students to teach robotics to fifth graders was adapted to a virtual format via Zoom. A case study intimately explored one team’s experience as they engineered bio-inspired robots over five weekly sessions. Zoom recordings, written reflections, and lesson slides were analyzed to describe how the virtual context shaped the lesson and influenced the preservice teacher’s experience. All three participants successfully engineered a robotic flower indicating hands-on robotics instruction is feasible in an online format. The virtual context increased the preservice teacher’s responsibilities and sense of autonomy, and appeared to positively influence
her knowledge and self-efficacy. Despite technical challenges, positive outcomes suggest the
approach is worth repeating. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study examining a virtual
robotics lesson co-taught by a preservice teacher and an engineering student.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10297471
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- SITE Interactive Online 2020 Conference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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This paper took up the tradition of Critical Feminism and Ethnography to examine early childhood education (ECE) pre-service teachers’ perspectives on STEM and robotics integration. The central research questions are (1) How can we make sense of preservice teachers’ formation of STEM/STEAM teacher identity while participating in our robotic unit from a Critical Feminist perspective? (2) What are preservice teachers’ perceptions of benefits, barriers and concerns (both structural level and individual level), and recommendations for pedagogical practice for STEM and robotics integration in ECE? (3) How can we better prepare and support pre-service teachers, largely women and non-STEM-majors, for STEM and robotics content integration in their classrooms? To answer the above questions, we collected interview data from 76 informants from a large public university in the Southeastern United States. Each informant designed a lesson plan on teaching with robots and completed approximately 30-minute structured interviews. We focused on our informants' lived experiences and centered their voices while conducting and analyzing the interviews via thematic coding and category analysis. Analysis of the interview stories indicated that our informants considered the robotics module in their pre-service training as a valuable learning experience of STEM/robotics integration in ECE. The three most commonly perceived benefits of STEM/robotics integration by pre-service teachers are early exposure helps build a STEM knowledge foundation (n = 66), STEM and robotics content effectively increases students’ motivation and engagement (n = 60), and bridging the gender gap in STEM as historically male-dominated fields (n = 27). The three most commonly perceived barriers are concern about age-appropriateness of robots (n = 53), time/state standard constraints (n = 35), and funding/resources available and support from the school and local district (n = 18). Our findings indicate structural and institutional barriers are still present and can potentially deter ECE teachers from implementing STEM/robotics content in their classrooms. We thus call for attention from a structural level instead of shifting the burdens onto both pre-service and in-service teachers. Employing a conscious effort of being self-reflexive, critical, and counter-hegemonic in our practices, this article is one of the first to approach motivation from a Critical Feminism perspective in the field and provides tangible implications for both engineering education research and practice.more » « less
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