This project seeks to increase and enhance students' and teachers' awareness of and engagement in sustainability and STEM by developing a post-baccalaureate program for teachers which addresses the need for equitable, meaningful STEM learning experiences that relate to real-world sustainability issues while also emphasizing the importance of scientific literacy and communication.
Research Methodology
Teachers involved in this program will engage in accelerated post-baccalaureate courses and seminars and real-time field experiences within their own classrooms. They will also pursue self-identified pathways of professional development, as well as collaborate with other area teachers and University students.
Research Goals
This program seeks to create a pathway for teachers to shift their teaching to more authentically and meaningfully engage all students in scientific literacy while simultaneously illustrating how STEM disciplines collaborate to address global sustainability issues. Teachers will discover the challenges that STEM professionals have in disseminating new findings to citizens, as well as the propensity of this information to become misunderstood or misused depending on biases, and impart this learning and literacy skills to their current students.
Research Outcomes
Teachers which complete their STEM Endorsement Certificate will gain the skills to meaningfully engage students in STEM, sustainability, and scientific literacy by teaching them practices such as evaluating information, using evidence to support their claims, and constructively driving scientific discourse. Teachers and their students will move from being aware of to being actively engaged in sustainability through the projects that they implement in the classroom. Research
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Project: The Pitt-Johnstown STEM Endorsement for Current K-12 Teachers
John C. Mascaro Faculty Lecturer in Sustainability
Dr. Sarah Chesney
Asst. Professor of Science/STEM Education
University of Pittsburgh at JohnstownSlide 1:
The University of Pittsburgh describes Sustainability as “balancing equity, environment, and economics so current and future generations can thrive,” and seeks to foster connections that “solve complex challenges facing our planet.”
Our current K-12 students are our future leaders for solving challenges of Sustainability. How do we get them there?
Teachers.
This project aims to establish a post-bacc program for practicing teachers that allows them to address issues in education related to learning, instruction, curriculum and assessment.
Specifically, related to issues of Sustainability education, teachers will address the need for:
- Meaningful, active learning experiences in STEM – those that tackle real engagement and awareness in Sustainability issues
- Early engagement of all learners in STEM (equity)
- Scientific literacy, for both teachers and students (including dissemination and evaluation of information and evidence-driven discourse)
Ultimately, sustained and reflective teacher professional development yields improved student awareness, engagement and achievement.
[A graphic in the center illustrates K-12 Context and Student Engagement in the compass points of S-T-E-M with connecting arms of Civics, ELA, Arts, Social Sciences. From an equation stating Disciplinary Knowledge + 21 Century Outcomes + Cross-cutting Concepts That Bridge the Disciplines, an arrow points to
Application to complex Real-world Issues:
- Engagement/Awareness
- Science Literacy
- Environmental Literacy
- Sustainability
Teacher Education Context is illustrated through a series of blocks, each pointing to the next, noting
- Teacher Professional Development
- Increased Teach Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes
- Change in Instruction
- Improved Student Learning
- Increased Awareness and Engagement in Sustainability for Students and Teachers]
More specifically this program aims to create a pathway for current teachers to:
- Shift their teaching to more authentically and meaningfully engage students in scientific literacy and to discover how the STEM disciplines work together to solve global sustainability problems.
- Discover the challenges that STEM professionals have in disseminating new findings to citizens, the vastness of information, the propensity of information to become distorted, misunderstood, or misused depending on political/personal biases, and impart this learning and practice to their current students.
- Examine their roles as teachers to model scientific literacy in their classrooms, and engage students in evaluating information and using evidence to support their claims and drive scientific discourse.
- Complete their STEM Endorsement Certificate, as an advocate of learning, stewardship and sustainability, with the goal of moving themselves and students beyond awareness to engagement via the projects they implement in their classrooms.
Teachers in this program will engage in accelerated post-bacc courses and seminars, real-time field experiences within their actual classrooms, self-identified pathways of professional development, and collaboration with other area teachers and university students
Slide 2:
This program is an extension of Pitt-Johnstown’s current undergraduate STEM Endorsement Certificate Program, first developed in 2019. Utilizing feedback from current STEM candidates and needs of area teachers, we determined a need for this program for practicing teachers.
The program aims to piloted in the Summer of 2024 through Spring 2025.
What is STEM?
“STEM” in K-12 classrooms is evolving to mean more than learning the disciplines [subjects/topics] within the acronym: STEM education provides opportunities for removing the traditional barriers between disciplines, where students transfer knowledge, develop and use 21st Century skills to solve complex, real-world problems.
What is a STEM Endorsement Certificate?
Pitt-Johnstown is a PA Department of Education approved teacher education and certification program. An Endorsement Certificate recognizes that an educator has specialized in an emerging area, such as STEM Education, where teaching certifications do not yet exist. This can be completed in conjunction with undergraduate work, or in the context of this project, as a post-baccalaureate program.
Research Focus Areas