Leveraging Technology Resources to Encourage University STEM Students to Explore and Persist in Teaching Careers

The project aims to serve the national need to prepare high-quality and highly effective science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers who will develop the next generation of leaders for the USA. The importance of these areas and their associated careers has greatly accelerated; and K-12 students are becoming more adept at using the latest technologies, thus challenging schools to implement new technologically advanced learning tools.

Colleges and universities need to develop secondary teachers who can use technology to engage their students and empower learning. An equally important challenge is to ensure the well-being of the K-12 teachers, so that they do not experience burnout due to stresses brought about by the pandemic, recent shortages of teachers, and demands for raising student’s’ standardized test performance.

This project will provide prospective and early-career practicing teachers with the tools that they need to succeed, including innovative technology, hands-on experiences in science, as well as resources of mentoring teams and wellness monitoring and support. The one-to-two-years of training will develop the next generation of science and math leaders for the nation.

This project at the University of Alabama at Birmingham includes partnerships with 12 area high needs school districts and Lawson State Community College (a minority serving institution). Project goals include the nurturing of 46 undergraduate and graduate students, providing them with skills and support mechanisms to be effective, enthusiastic, and confident in their preservice teaching and throughout their careers.

The project is aimed at ensuring that middle and high school students are given access to the excitement and wonder of science through these new teachers. To accomplish these goals and promote equity in education, the project will focus on teachers in “high needs” schools. These teachers, who typically enter teaching with great passion, skill, understanding and motivation that can fade if they lack adequate support and mentoring, can suffer from low teacher retention and lower persistence in teaching careers.

The program focuses on promoting teacher excellence through outstanding pedagogy, team teaching, and leadership, and training in diverse bidirectional mentorship and wellness resources, enabling the new teachers to thrive in their careers and foster their passion for educating the next generation. This Track 1: Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce).

The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.