Welcome to VolsTeach for Appalachia: Becoming a STEM teacher!

Our NSF project's overarching goal is to support community college students in becoming exceptional STEM teachers in rural East Tennessee. Our project is currently in year 2, and this video highlights key features we've conducted to recruit possible Scholars. We would like to thank everyone involved with the project as well as those watching our presentation.

What a crisp, clear, presentation. What challenges are you experiencing in recruiting and sustaining students?  I imagine that rural environments have fewer STEM teachers to  support  each other. Does your grant give you enough time to follow them into their first year of teaching and provide them with support. 

Hi Joni! great questions. I think one challenge we have experienced has been recruiting STEM majors who are focused on trying teaching. It seems that the STEM majors we meet are interested in doing many things, which is not a problem really, but some of those pursuits require a full commitment. Last year, we recruited 16 interns who explored teaching in the summer. And, this year, we have leveraged the internship to recruit 12 scholars. Also, like others, we are going virtual with our internship so hope to attract students from outside of East Tennessee as well. The support of the school districts and the community colleges has been invaluable. And, yes, the funding supports research into the first two years of teaching for the Noyce scholars. 

The video mentioned using culturally responsive pedagogy - briefly how is this done in your program and/or what are some examples (e.g., what strategies/frameworks are implemented)? Do you measure how students may shift their thinking/perspectives/teaching due this work and if so, what are some findings (even if informal)? It is an important element of any teacher education program - Thanks!

Hi Ann, thanks for the comments/questions about CRP. As part of this project, we have revisited five key courses in our program in order to make CRP connections across courses explicit. And, to revisit the activities/assignments in general. We have drawn on literature like Ladson-Billings, Gay, Bartell, just to name a few. So, some more general to CRP, and some readings specific to math/science education. One beginning theme for us was that of community: Learning about students and their communities. We have recently selected our Noyce Scholars who will begin our program this Fall. Some were interns (learning about STEM teaching) during the Summer of 2019. Carlos, from the video, is a selected scholar and was also an intern last year. 

We will be collecting data, including interview data, from the scholars as they interact with CRP across coursework.

From the interns, we found that they noted two areas that supported their learning about teaching: One was that of community (with the other interns) and the second was that of their interactions with middle school students in a camp. In the internship, we emphasized one point of CRP which is understanding students and their communities in order to teach and design instruction. Informally, this seemed to be an idea that a majority of the interns walked away with. 

I am hoping we can say more this coming year based on the data we are gathering. 

Thank you again!

Thanks for creating this video about your program! The responses to the questions posted thus far are also very helpful.

I really like that you have a partnership with a community college and have a summer camp/intern experience for the participants. I am wondering about how the teacher preparation program begins at the CC and continues at UT. COuld you describr a bit about the teacher prep program in general and also how/if your project recruits participants from the CC and at UT.

Thanks for sharing your video. I think it’s a great idea to focus on engaging the interns and students in the summer. Are the interns paired with current STEM teachers during the summer program? What are some of the ways you are finding success in recruitment?

Thanks for sharing your video and for your important work supporting and developing community college students to become CRP STEM teachers in Appalachia. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Jennifer!

Great program fulfilling a pressing need.  Thanks for sharing. How long is the summer program?  Can you talk a bit about the selection criterion?  What does the future hold for this work?

The summer program takes place during June. The selection includes an interest in STEM (and teaching), diverse experiences, high potential...We are finishing year 2. In year three the scholars participate in coursework (and field work) that supports learning about culturally responsive teaching and communities of East Tennessee. 

Lynn:  what issues are you encountering in doing a summer program this June?  Our Professional Development workshop for teachers this summer has been told:  No in-person PD because of COVID-19.  We are now discussing how to do a "virtual" PD on line.  Please take a look at our video.  If you have suggestions, we would love to hear from you. 

We are offering a virtual internship and virtual PD this summer. What does hands-on STEM look like in an online environment?