Hi, I am John Pecore, Professor and Askew Institute Research Fellow at the University of West Florida.  My colleague, Dr. Demetrikopoulos, and I are facilitating this conversation about our video Noyce Scholars and Citizen Science.  Our NSF Robert F. Noyce funded project provides citizen science research projects for pre-service STEM teachers and undergraduate scholarships during students' junior and senior years with a commitment to completing the program and teaching in a high needs school district after graduation.  Our goal is to prepare future STEM teachers to provide citizen science projects for their middle and high school classrooms.  This video presents our collaborative project where University Faculty and grades 6-12 STEM teachers work with pre-service NOYCE scholars to develop and implement citizen science research projects in middle and high schools.  We look forward to hearing and answering your questions about preparing future STEM teachers that encourages participants to teach using projects in high needs schools.

• What challenges and successes do teachers have with implimenting citizen science research projects?
• What are your thoughts about novice teachers providing middle and high school students with opportunities to contribute to scientific research?
• Have you encountered any concerns with data collected and analysis by middle and high school students?
• Do citizen science research opportunities assist with recruiting and retaining STEM majors to teach in high needs schools?

Great video really showcasing getting your preservice teachers involved in classrooms and in the field with students, teachers and campus researchers. In the video I was able to get a sense of the very careful attention to the protocols for data collection. This is so important and brings ideas of measurement, data quality, and data organization to the fore! I saw a glimpse of a spreadsheet and a poster that was used to communicate results from one of the projects.

I'd love to learn more about the ways your Noyce scholars help students formulate a question at the beginning of a project, and then analyze their data and communicate their results for others to understand the importance of their citizen science project. Have you noticed any differences with these aspects between the middle and high school project teams?

Thanks for putting together this video to showcase your work. Watching it brought up a question my team has been reflecting on with our project -- do the students seem to enjoy or participate more enthusiastically in one part of the process compared to another? For example, do the students seem interested in asking their own questions or would they rather jump straight to data collection?

Have you been able to follow up on and determine outcomes on the students in the teachers classes? What has been found (even if informally)? Have you collected data on the many ways this program has perhaps transformed how teachers teach and/or view the nature of science? The interviews gave a great snapshot. Thanks!

Dear Ann, 

The Noyce Scholars, who are both STEM majors and obtaining their education credentials,  reported that participation in the citizen science project both increased their interest in teaching under-served students as well as increased their interest in teaching in high needs schools.  

Thanks for your responses Melissa and John. The Scholars are clearly gaining great experience in this program.  I will look up your article in ABT, John! I look forward to learning more about the outcomes as this project progresses.

Thanks for sharing this project! How do your Noyce Scholars identify the citizen science projects that they get involved with? 

Nice work, John and Melissa. I love the emphasis on forming identity as a scientists/mathematicians who teach. In relation to the results Melissa shared with Ann, why do you think participation in a citizen science project increased interest in teaching in a high-need school?

I love the idea of pairing a professor, MS/HS teacher, and Noyce scholars. John, you asked about our thoughts providing middle and HS students with opportunities to contribute to scientific research. I believe that immersing yourself into the research is going to best prepare students for future STEM professions. How do you ensure the scientific research students are engaging with aligns to math and science skills that are grade appropriate for students?

This is a great project, thank you for sharing!  I am really intrigued by the program design.  I am currently a co-PI on a Noyce Track IV grant, and our data has shown the importance of mentorship for novice or early career teachers.  I know this has also been shown in other studies regarding teacher retention.  The fact that your program has mentorship for the scholars coming from both current teachers and faculty scientists I think is a really important program characteristic, and could have an important effect on scholars' retention as teachers in high-need schools.  Have you done any work that has specifically looked at how the Scholar's are perceiving these mentorship activities, and if this has had any effect on how they feel when they enter the classroom as a new teacher?

Dear Christopher, 

Thank you for your interest in our program.  The scholars were asked about their mentoring experience and reported high levels of mentor engagement such as Gave you challenging assignments that presented opportunities to learn new skills, Helped you learn to communicate and function as part of an interdisciplinary team, and Taught you specific research skill or how to do a specific task.   Scholars also reported high level of of mentor support such as Provided assistance or support as needed, Listened when you talked, Served as a role model, Conveyed empathy for the concerns and feelings you have discussed with them.  When asked to reflect on the mentoring experience, the faculty reported high levels of agreement to a number of statements including  I provided professional development to my mentee, I met with my mentee to go over expectations,  I was prepared to be a mentor, I enjoyed mentoring, I would like to be a mentor again in the future. 

This looks like a great project and a wonderful way to tie the knowledge across secondary through higher education. Keep up the great work!

Thanks Mark!  

I love that this project seems to have impacts across so many different levels...including pre-service teachers, teachers, and students. Presumably the impacts on the pre-service teachers are being studied, but I'm curious to learn more about anything you might be doing to explore subsequent impacts students and perhaps on the practicing teachers and the faculty who facilitate this program as well? 

I really love the partnership model you have developed through the project!