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Improving the quantity and quality of STEM teachers is one of the goals of the Noyce Scholarship Grant Program implemented through the National Science Foundation. Here, we examine how the change to remote learning impacted ASU'’s Noyce Scholarship program. Our research question was as follows: what kinds of successes and struggles did STEM Noyce (a) in-service and (b) pre-service scholars experience in the first year of remote teaching during the pandemic? We interviewed three different cohorts of Noyce scholars: preservice teachers, first year teachers and second year teachers. Results showed that some scholars saw benefits to remote learning including more free time for other learning activities. They also observed teachers dedicated to student success. Challenges included an inability to reach all students, a continued focus on standardized tests, and a lack of flexibility within the districts. 

This poster focuses on K-12 STEM teachers' computational thinking while using unplugged cybersecurity activities and exploring cybersecurity applications within self-paced micro-credentials. As a result, they share the most successful and challenging unplugged cybersecurity activities. The pilot micro-credentials were created to assess their effectiveness at enabling K-12 teachers to meaningfully their own materials to develop students’ STEM readiness and increase their engagement with cybersecurity, while enabling unplugged activities to transfer to a more mathematical mindset. The two pilot studies, focusing on K-12 teacher participants, included an initial micro-credential in the 2020 summer (n=5) which informed and enhanced a second micro-credential module sequence in the fall 2020 semester (n=16). Pilot 2 consisted of a total of five modules after refining it from feedback from pilot 1, which had only 2 modules. Researchers performed a mixed-methods study, which included qualitative data collected through interviews and focus groups. Additionally, content knowledge questions and attitude surveys were also used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Results indicate that the majority of K-12 teachers who participated in the micro-credential pilots were able to make connections between unplugged activities and a mathematical mindset. The poster presents these findings and also includes additional resources for further exploration and inspiration. 

In this study, we examine the outcome of a four-day workshop with 24 Teacher Educators (fellows) who were supported in using two tools - Teacher Moments (TM) and Eliciting Learner Knowledge (ELK). The tools are designed for authoring, implementing, and research Digital Clinical Simulations in education. The simulations centered around issues of equity in K-12 computer science education to provide in-/pre-service teachers with opportunities to practice high-stakes interactions in low-stakes settings. We operationalize the technology adoption of the fellows through the notions of self-efficacy, help-seeking, and technology concerns to recognize the potential barriers they faced in transitioning from authoring to implementing and research design. Finally, we note the fellows' implementation plans in the ensuing academic year and examine potential collaborations amongst them using social network analysis. Our results reveal how a small group of fellows, spanning major regions of the U.S., generate a broad range of scenarios, as well as clusters of scenarios, enabling simulation-based research supported by collaboration.