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1. The Value of Teaching Leadership Skills to STEM Graduate Students and Postdocs

   https://doi.org/10.58021/S59G6F  

   Strubbe, Linda ; Bosinger, Mia ; Stauffer, Heidi L ; Tarjan, L. Max ( January 2022 , Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))

   Seagroves, Scott ; Barnes, Austin ; Metevier, Anne ; Porter, Jason ; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)

   To create and achieve awesome things in the world together, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professionals need to be able to lead effectively. Leadership can be thought of as “a process of social influence through which an individual enlists and mobilizes the aid of others in the attainment of a collective goal” (Chemers, 2001). In the Institute for Scientist & Engineers Educators’ Professional Development Program (PDP), STEM graduate students and postdocs learned, practiced, and reflected on leadership skills and strategies explicitly. Design Team Leaders (DTLs) practiced leading their teams, all participants facilitated inquiry (led their students in learning), and some (in later years) learned through the inclusive leadership PDP strand. In this panel paper, we reflect on what we learned from these experiences and discuss how we apply PDP leadership training daily in our work beyond the PDP. We review key principles about inclusive leadership, such as building an image as a credible leader; how to lead meetings; and how to build feelings of motivation, belonging, trust, and shared ownership among team members. We also share case studies of our experiences applying PDP leadership training in roles as co-director for an African summer school, facilitator for a physics equity project, middle/high school math and science teacher, mentor for new teachers, teaching professor and online curriculum designer, and project manager for a non-profit. Last, we offer recommendations for stakeholders who want to support STEM graduate students’ and postdocs’ development as inclusive leaders. 

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2. Virtual Intensive Training for Experimental Centric Pedagogy Team Members: Effectiveness During COVID-19 Pandemic

   Owolabi, O. A. ( July 2021 , 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access)

   null (Ed.)

   The COVID-19 pandemic grounded the implementation of many research projects. However, with the intervention of the NSF research grant awarded to a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), with a specific goal to increase students’ achievement in multiple STEM disciplines, the pandemic challenges provided opportunities to effectively achieve the project objectives. The Adapting an Experiment-centric Teaching Approach to Increase Student Achievement in Multiple STEM Disciplines (ETA-STEM) project aims to implement an evidence-based, experiment-focused teaching approach called Experimental Centric Pedagogy (ECP) in multiple STEM disciplines. The ECP has been shown to motivate students and increase the academic success of minority students in electrical engineering in various institutions. During the Summer of 2020, the ETA-STEM Trainees engaged in research activities to develop three instruments in their respective disciplines. This paper highlights the strategic planning of the project management team, the implementation of the ECP, a comprehensive breakdown of activities and an evaluation of effectiveness of the virtual training. The 13-week intensive virtual training using Canvas learning management system and zoom virtual platform provided the opportunity to effectively interact and collaborate with project team members. Some of the summer training activities and topics included: instrumentation and measurements in STEM fields, sensors and signal conditioning, assessing the performance of instruments and sensors, effective library and literature search, introduction to education research, writing excellent scientific papers, as well as the implementation and development of ECP curriculum with focus on home-based experiment. Prior to the training, ECP kits were shipped to the team and facilitators fully utilized the virtual platform to collaborate with team members. Overall, there was a great satisfaction and confidence with the participants designing three home-based experiments using the M1K and M2K analog devices. 

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3. Undergraduate Facilitators as Role Models for Middle School Learners within an AI Summer Camp

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3626253.3635395  

   Solomon, Carly ( March 2024 , Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education)

   As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes ubiquitous in children’s lives, it is crucial to introduce newand effective ways to teach the younger generation about AI. This study describes the experience of training undergraduate students as middle school AI summer camp facilitators. These undergraduates participated in a professional development session prior to camp for 9 days (54 hours), and then facilitated AI learning and camp activities within the two-week camp. Our findings indicate that the undergraduate facilitators benefited greatly from this experience, in turn providing benefits to the middle school learners. The undergraduates developed both professional and conceptual skills. By interacting with the facilitators as “near-peers”, the students learned about AI in a fun, engaging, and supportive way. These findings contribute to our understanding of how to effectively teach young learners about complex AI concepts. 

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4. Galaxy-Classification Activity for All Ages

   https://doi.org/10.58021/S5VC7R  

   Cooksey, Kathy L. ; Metevier, Anne J. ; Rubin, Kate H. ; Choi, Philip I. ; Raschke, Lynne ( January 2022 , Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE))

   Seagroves, Scott ; Barnes, Austin ; Metevier, Anne ; Porter, Jason ; Hunter, Lisa (Ed.)

   Classification is a general tool of science; it is used to sort and categorize biological organisms, chemical elements, astronomical objects, and many other things. In scientific classification, taxonomy often reflects shared physical properties that, in turn, may indicate shared origins and/or evolution. A “hands-on” galaxy-classification activity developed and implemented by Professional Development Program (PDP) participants, for a high-school summer STEM enrichment program, has been adopted for various age groups and venues, from young (K–3) to college students. We detail the basic tools required, outline the general activity, and describe the modifications to the activity based on learners’ ages and learning objectives. We describe the facilitation strategies learned through PDP training and used when implementing the activity, including prompts to motivate the students. We also discuss how we connected the classification process to astronomy and science more broadly during the concluding remarks. 

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5. Translating and Scaling a Face-to-Face, Video-Based Elementary Science PD Program to an Online Environment

   Kowalski, S. ; Belcastro, A. ; Hvidsten, C. ; Constantine, A. ; Faruqi, F. ; Askinas, K. ; De Vaul, R. ; Roehrig, G. ( April 2021 , Annual Meeting of the NARST International Conference)

   Objective Over the past decade, we developed and studied a face-to-face video-based analysis-of-practice professional development (PD) model. In a cluster randomized trial, we found that the face-to-face model enhanced elementary science teacher knowledge and practice and resulted in important improvements to student science achievement (student treatment effect, d = 0.52; Taylor et al, 2017; Roth et al, 2018). The face-to-face PD model is expensive and difficult to scale. In this paper, we present the results of a two-year design-based research study to translate the face-to-face PD into a facilitated online PD experience. The purpose is to create an effective, flexible, and cost-efficient PD model that will reach a broader audience of teachers. Perspective/Theoretical Framework The face-to-face PD model is grounded in situated cognition and cognitive apprenticeship frameworks. Teachers engage in learning science content and effective science teaching practices in the context in which they will be teaching. There are scaffolded opportunities for teachers to learn from analysis of model videos by experienced teachers, to try teaching model units, to analyze video of their own teaching efforts, and ultimately to develop their own unit, with guidance. The PD model attends to the key features of effective PD as described by Desimone (2009) and others. We adhered closely to the design principles of the face-to-face model as described by Authors, 2019. Methods We followed a design-based research approach (DBR; Cobb et al., 2003; Shavelson et al., 2003) to examine the online program components and how they promoted or interfered with the development of teachers’ knowledge and reflective practice. Of central interest was the examination of mechanisms for facilitating teacher learning (Confrey, 2006). To accomplish this goal, design researchers engaged in iterative cycles of problem analysis, design, implementation, examination, and redesign (Wang & Hannafin, 2005) in phase one of the project before studying its effect. Data Three small pilot groups of teachers engaged in both synchronous and asynchronous components of the larger online course which began implementation with a 10-week summer course that leads into study groups of participants meeting through one academic year. We iteratively designed, tested, and revised 17 modules across three pilot versions. On average, pilot groups completed one module every two weeks. Pilot 1 began the work in May 2019; Pilot 2 began in August 2019, and Pilot 3 began in October 2019. Pilot teachers responded to surveys and took part in interviews related to the PD. The PD facilitators took extensive notes after each iteration. The development team met weekly to discuss revisions. We revised all modules between each pilot group and used what we learned to inform our development of later modules within each pilot. For example, we applied what we learned from testing Module 3 with Pilot 1 to the development of Module 3 for Pilots 2, and also applied what we learned from Module 3 with Pilot 1 to the development of Module 7 for Pilot 1. Results We found that community building required the same incremental trust-building activities that occur in face-to-face PD. Teachers began with low-risk activities and gradually engaged in activities that required greater vulnerability (sharing a video of themselves teaching a model unit for analysis and critique by the group). We also identified how to contextualize technical tools with instructional prompts to allow teachers to productively interact with one another about science ideas asynchronously. As part of that effort, we crafted crux questions to surface teachers’ confusions or challenges related to content or pedagogy. We called them crux questions because they revealed teachers’ uncertainty and deepened learning during the discussion. Facilitators leveraged asynchronous responses to crux questions in the synchronous sessions to push teacher thinking further than would have otherwise been possible in a 2-hour synchronous video-conference. Significance Supporting teachers with effective, flexible, and cost-efficient PD is difficult under the best of circumstances. In the era of covid-19, online PD has taken on new urgency. NARST members will gain insight into the translation of an effective face-to-face PD model to an online environment. 

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