This study reports the findings of a two-year intensive professional development (PD) program situated in the northeastern United States for secondary mathematics and science teachers to support them in transforming their STEM instruction to incorporate SocioScientific Issues (SSI). This PD focused on developing units of study that integrated student-centered, authentic learning experiences grounded in social justice issues. Findings indicate that after participation in the USTRIVE project, teachers displayed growth in their ability to incorporate components of the instructional framework for SSI introduced in the PD into their teaching. This is consistent with previous research that SSI-focused PD can increase teachers’ knowledge of, and teaching practices toward SSI, resulting in more meaningful STEM learning experiences for students. As such, the USTRIVE PD model and framework may provide a useful guide for other SSI and social justice PD programs. Connections of these findings to student engagement, teachers learning, and challenges encountered in SSI implementation are explored.
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Development of a machine-learning-driven digital teaching assistant that utilises student engagement data to improve access to and success in K-12 STEM education
Student engagement is a key predictor of academic achievement and is closely linked to career awareness, interest, and preparedness. Measuring student engagement during STEM learning is challenging for teachers, given the dynamic and ever-changing nature of these learning environments. Even when engagement data can be collected, leveraging this information to refine and personalize instruction requires significant experience and time. To address this, we are developing Scoutlier EngagEd, a digital teaching assistant that embeds in existing Learning Management Systems (LMS) to automatically and invisibly gather multidimensional data on student engagement and performance during STEM learning. These data are being leveraged to model student learning and generate insights that produce human-like, actionable recommendations through a Large Language Model (LLM) for teachers to improve STEM learning outcomes.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2148451
- PAR ID:
- 10610159
- Publisher / Repository:
- Learning Letters
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Learning Letters
- Volume:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2981-877X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 31
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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