| Abstrakt: |
Due to the shortage in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce, it is imperative to inspire K12 students to pursue STEM disciplines. Materials and advanced manufacturing (M&AM), an important industry for the U.S. economy, requires a STEM knowledgeable workforce. To address the shortage while increasing awareness of M&AM, 3 Ohio universities collaboratively designed a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Teachers (NSF-RET) project. Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, and Birman's (2002) theory of effective professional development and Bandura's (1977) theory of social learning guided the design to provide 36 K12 teachers with knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy to engage their students in M&AM activities. A convenience sample comprised 36 in-service teachers and 6 pre-service teachers. The convergent parallel mixed methods project analyses documented that in-service teachers' attitudes towards teaching STEM improved (z = 3.17, p < 0.0002, r = .49), along with their expected student outcomes (z = 2.77, p < 0.006, r = .49) and their adoption of investigative cultures in their classrooms (z = 2.34, p < 0.02, r = .48). The qualitative analyses documented their increased awareness of M&AM. The findings have 3 implications: (a) participants' increased STEM awareness and skills related to M&AM empowered them to potentially increase students' interest in STEM and M&AM; (b) participants' increased awareness of regional M&AM industries and higher education M&AM research contributed to their ability to share real world M&AM examples in the STEM classroom; and (c) participants' changed teaching practices potentially contribute to preparing more students for STEM careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
