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1. Virtual Reality Teacher Professional Development: Voices from Teachers who Teach Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

   Garcia, Robert; Jones, Nastassia N. (March 2023, Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference)

   Langran, E.; Christensen, P.; Sanson, J. (Ed.)

   The use of technology has positively impacted instruction in math and science, including instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD). Additionally, virtual reality (VR) technology has been used for students with SCD and has resulted in positive outcomes. However, it has not been widely adapted to teach science concepts to students with SCD, and part of that is the teacher's lack of understanding and technical knowledge of technology. This narrative case study aimed to describe the teachers of students with SCD’s knowledge, attitudes, and instructional practices as they engage in professional development and the use of VR in the classroom. To collect data, the researcher used interviews, virtual reality training, PD and classroom observations, and document analysis. The study showed that prior to this research, teachers did not use virtual reality in the classroom. They felt excited about getting trained on it and anxious in using it due to the spectrum of students’ cognitive abilities. Although they liked to use VR, they pointed out that “time to develop and/ or implement the technology in the classroom” was the biggest constraint. The teachers wanted to use VR to reinforce the concepts taught in the classroom. In conclusion, the teachers' professional development on virtual reality has allowed them opportunities to understand VR use in instruction and express their perceptions about it. 

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2. Impact of Teachers With Research Experiences: Student Gains in STEM Career Awareness, Perception of Value of STEM Learning, and Persistence in STEM Course Tasks

   https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21926  

   Keller, John; Buxner, Sanlyn; Donnelly‐Hermosillo, Dermot; Bailey, Elsa; Citkowicz, Martyna; Horvath, Larry; Moreno, Dan; Yisak, Melissa; Zhu, Bo; Fulbeck, Eleanor; et al (January 2025, Science Education)

   ABSTRACT Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) programs are a burgeoning approach to engage teachers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) research that they can translate into their K‐12 classrooms. Despite an increase in studies of RETs, there is a need for comparison of RET and non‐RET teachers' student outcomes. This mixed methods, quasi‐experimental comparison study, using a revised third‐generation activity theory framework, investigates how an RET program for preservice and early career STEM teachers impacted participating teachers and their students up to 8 years after RET participation. Specifically, we conducted a matched comparison of student achievement data from students of nine RET teachers versus many non‐RET comparison teachers within the same districts (n = 830–1132 students). We also investigated student and teacher perceptions of classroom practices through surveys (n = 576 students) and interviews (15 teacher interviews). Omnibus tests revealed no statistically significant differences by treatment in math or science achievement. However, students of the RET teachers reported stronger perceptions of STEM career awareness, greater value for learning STEM subjects, and a greater propensity to persist in STEM course tasks (three of the five constructs measured). This was consistent with teacher interview responses in which RET teachers spoke about STEM career awareness in a broader context for understanding the value of STEM in society, and also discussed struggles in research and attempts to bring this mindset to their students, which may have resulted in greater student engagement in their courses. Implications for teacher education and for supporting science and engineering practices in STEM classrooms are discussed along with recommendations for further research on the impacts of RET programs guided by a revised third‐generation activity theory framework informed by this work. 

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3. The Relationship between Ninth Graders’ Perceptions of Teacher Equity and Their Math Identity: Differences by Student Race and School Racial Composition

   https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407221149016  

   Shifrer, Dara; Phillippo, Kate; Tilbrook, Ned; Morton, Karisma (January 2023, Sociology of Education)

   Using data on ninth graders, math teachers, and schools from the nationally representative High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we investigate the following questions: (1) How do ninth graders’ perceptions of their math teachers as equitable relate to their math identity at the intersection of adolescents’ race and gender? and (2) Do differences in the percentage of students at the school who share the adolescent’s race moderate (i.e., differentiate) the salience of perceptions of math teachers for adolescents’ math identities? Our results suggest that adolescents who perceive their math teachers as equitable typically have higher levels of math identity regardless of their race or gender. Adolescents’ perceptions of their math teachers as equitable are most salient for adolescents’ math identity in racially diverse schools, where racial differences and stereotypes may be more visible. Findings also indicate the seeming resistance of Black youth to racist stereotypes, whose math identity remains high regardless of their perceptions of their teachers. 

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4. Workshops and Co-design Can Help Teachers Integrate Computational Thinking into Their K-12 STEM Classes

   Wu, S.; Peel, A.; Bain, C.; Anton, G.; Horn, M.; Wilensky, U. (April 2020, Proceedings of International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2020)

   Kong, S.C. (Ed.)

   This work aims to help high school STEM teachers integrate computational thinking (CT) into their classrooms by engaging teachers as curriculum co-designers. K-12 teachers who are not trained in computer science may not see the value of CT in STEM classrooms and how to engage their students in computational practices that reflect the practices of STEM professionals. To this end, we developed a 4-week professional development workshop for eight science and mathematics high school teachers to co-design computationally enhanced curriculum with our team of researchers. The workshop first provided an introduction to computational practices and tools for STEM education. Then, teachers engaged in co-design to enhance their science and mathematics curricula with computational practices in STEM. Data from surveys and interviews showed that teachers learned about computational thinking, computational tools, coding, and the value of collaboration after the professional development. Further, they were able to integrate multiple computational tools that engage their students in CT-STEM practices. These findings suggest that teachers can learn to use computational practices and tools through workshops, and that teachers collaborating with researchers in co-design to develop computational enhanced STEM curriculum may be a powerful way to engage students and teachers with CT in K-12 classrooms. 

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5. Elementary teachers’ beliefs about teaching mathematics and science: Implications for argumentation.

   Conner, AnnaMarie; Menke, Jenna (May 2021, PME-NA)

   Sacristan, AI; Cortes-Zavala, JC; Ruiz-Arias, PM (Ed.)

   Teachers in the elementary grades often teach all subjects and are expected to have appropriate content knowledge of a wide range of disciplines. Current recommendations suggest teachers should integrate multiple disciplines into the same lesson, for instance, when teaching integrated STEM lessons. Although there are many similarities between STEM fields, there are also epistemological differences to be understood by students and teachers (see, e.g., Conner & Kittleson, 2009). How to teach STEM lessons without ignoring the unique characteristics, depth, and rigor of each discipline is an open question (Kertil & Gurel, 2016). This study investigated teachers’ beliefs about teaching mathematics and science using argumentation and the epistemological and contextual factors that may have influenced these beliefs. 

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