ABSTRACT

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving future elementary teachers? equitable mathematics and science instruction through the development of cased-based scenarios. This project aligns with the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program goals of developing a new teaching practice and curricular innovation that has the potential to improve undergraduate teacher preparation in STEM education. This project intends to investigate how cased-based scenarios (also referred to as cases) that present authentic teaching dilemmas can be used in university methods courses to enhance future elementary teachers? ability to enact equitable mathematics and science instruction. In collaboration with in-service teachers, the project is developing cases that represent actual classroom situations that attend to elementary students? cultural resources and lived experiences, as well as issues of power and status in classrooms. These project-developed cases are to be implemented in university-based elementary mathematics and science methods courses where pre-service teachers engage with ways to mitigate deepening educational inequities through cases as a learning tool. The research team intends to develop principles that others can use to design cases focused on equitable mathematics and science teaching. Cases resulting from this project will be made available for public use.

To address the challenge of supporting elementary pre-service teachers in enactment of culturally grounded mathematics and science, this project involves designing a series of cases capturing authentic voices of in-service elementary teachers from a variety of backgrounds and settings. These cases will then be implemented in university-based elementary mathematics and science methods courses, providing new learning opportunities for pre-service teachers. A design-based research approach utilizing qualitative analyses and computational data analytics techniques will investigate the following research questions: How does in-service teachers? expertise about culturally grounded pedagogy influence the development of cases focused on mathematics and science teaching? How can an expansive framing approach to implementing cases in methods courses support pre-service teachers? learning? How does this approach support pre-service teachers? learning of culturally grounded pedagogy in mathematics and science? What design principles can be used to develop cases that enhance pre-service teacher learning of mathematics and science content and culturally grounded pedagogy? By examining pre-service teachers? written responses and dialogue when interacting with cases, along with surveys, journal entries, and performance on a consequential learning task, results are expected to contribute to knowledge regarding pre-service teachers? learning of culturally grounded mathematics and science pedagogy in methods courses. Project results are to be disseminated via scholarly presentations and manuscripts, a project website, podcast episodes, and professional development sessions/workshop series for P-12 practitioners. This project has the potential to benefit the STEM education community and society at large by working to prepare future elementary teachers to mitigate deepening educational inequities in STEM. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. Partial funding is from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program.

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.

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