While national frameworks call for the integration of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (STEM+CS) in K-12 contexts, few studies consider elementary teachers’ perceptions of implementing STEM+CS projects in science classrooms. This single case study explores elementary science teachers’ perceptions of enacting STEM+CS curricular materials. Survey and interview data were collected over the four-week project and qualitatively coded. Findings demonstrate teachers’ reported struggles to implement unfamiliar disciplines and leverage students’ prior knowledge in familiar disciplines as well as unanticipated consequences of instructional decisions based on perceived student engagement and pacing. Results underscore the value of teacher voice for curricular and professional development and highlight the need for further investigation of how teachers’ perceptions may influence enactment of STEM+CS curricular materials.
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Science through storytelling or storytelling about science? Identifying cognitive task demands and expert strategies in cross-curricular STEM education
While recent shifts away from sharply demarcated disciplines to cross-curricular K-12 education show great promise for enhancing students’ interest and the relevance of subject matter, there remain many challenges to implementation as envisioned, not least among them teacher education. Most current teachers are socialized into disciplinary norms and identities through their pre-service education. To advance cross-curricular teaching, then, teachers need support, including more attention to the instructional design of teacher-facing materials. Without attention to teachers as learners, teachers will continue to implement promising educational innovations only through the lens of their discipline. Using a cognitive interview methodology, we asked how teachers with professional formation in different disciplines would approach a project that purported to connect those disciplines. On the one hand, we found that lesson planning and implementation is a broadly similar task for various types of teachers. On the other hand, we also found that, for the most part, both science and journalism educators focused more heavily on the aspects of a science journalism project that fit within their own discipline. Yet all teachers we interviewed were interested in the possibilities a cross-curricular project opens, which suggests the need for further research on implementation and uptake.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1908515
- PAR ID:
- 10478459
- Publisher / Repository:
- Frontiers in Education
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Education
- Volume:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 2504-284X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Disruptions to education systems (e.g., the COVID‐19 pandemic) evoke a range of responses from teachers. Teachers are required to learn new skills, attend to students' social emotional needs, modify their instructional approaches, and discover innovative ways to engage their students in science, technology, and engineering courses, all while managing their own professional and personal needs. Although teachers of all disciplines adjust their instructional and curricular approaches in response to disruptions, the impetus for this study was to explore the unique challenges of science teachers during the COVID‐19 pandemic that affected their sense of agency (sense of control). To understand how science teachers acquired, used, and invested in capital (i.e., available resources with the potential to meet identified challenges) to achieve professional agency, we studied 113 science teachers in 2020−2021 when they experienced disruptions associated with the pandemic. An analysis of open‐ended responses from 60 teachers indicates that teachers who achieved agency shared four attributes. They (i) demonstrated an awareness of needed capital, (ii) acquired capital, (iii) used capital, and (iv) dedicated effort toward capital‐building for future use. Our findings inform science teacher educators and schools that are committed to mitigating science teacher attrition by understanding how teachers respond to personal and professional stresses.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1279861
