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STEM STRONG

STEM STRONG provides supports to elementary teachers in order to promote STEM education.

STEM STRONG video thumbnail Play media

STEM STRONG (Supporting Teachers in Rural cOmmunities for the Next Generation) was designed to provide professional learning and additional instructional supports to teachers in the wake of recently adopted K-12 science and engineering education content standards.

What is STEM STRONG?

STEM STRONG logo

Led by the University of North Dakota, researchers from four institutions across the United States secured a $2.9M Discover Research K-12 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF Award #2201249). This award, titled Investigating how combining intensive professional development and modest support affects rural, elementary teachers’ science and engineering practice, is the genesis of the STEM STRONG project.

Informed by A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), STEM STRONG aims to promote science and engineering education in grades 3–5 elementary classrooms. Specifically, this project aims to build knowledge about the impact of professional learning (PL), followed by modest supports, on promoting enduring instructional improvements.  

Participants

Education discussion

STEM STRONG recruited elementary level teachers from North Dakota, California, Montana, and Wyoming (up to 45 teachers from each state). These teachers formed a virtual PL communitiy that began learning together in Summer 2023.

Once they complete the initial PL, teachers will benefit from modest electronic supports, including:

  • a half-day refresher session the year after the initial PL
  • virtual meetings
  • social media connections among participating teachers
  • access to archived webinars on a range of topics related to teaching elementary school science

Modest financial support for replacement of consumable supplies needed for hands-on classroom engineering tasks will also be provided. 

Program Goals

STEM STRONG will investigate factors influencing teacher change after PL experiences and will examine the effects of PL in science and engineering among elementary school teachers over a 3-year intervention of modest supports. This longitudinal study has four research objectives:

  1. Assess the extent to which an intense 5-day science and engineering PL event impacts teachers’ knowledge and self-efficacy in science;
  2. Observe the effectiveness of modest supports on teachers’ self-efficacy in science and engineering, on teachers’ use of inquiry-based instructional strategies, and on the sustainability of PL outcomes, including instructional time in science and engineering;
  3. Document the effectiveness of intense PL, followed by modest supports, on teachers’ capacities to deliver engineering instruction, and specifically their integration of engineering practices; and
  4. Capture the outcomes of science and engineering instruction delivered by teachers after intense PL and modest supports.

Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from multiple sources, including teacher surveys, about their beliefs and attitudes, self-efficacy, and instructional practices along with measures of student learning. STEM STRONG collaborators will use this data to address the above research objectives, focusing on the persistence of PL outcomes in science and engineering, judging the extent to which teachers make use of the various supports offered, and identifying critical supports for meaningful outcomes.

diagram showcasing the diversity of rural schools along with proposed supports

Partner Institutions

  • University of North Dakota
  • Purdue University
  • University of Wyoming
  • WestEd
  • K-12 Alliance

STEM STRONG Team

STEM STRONG is made possible by a collaboration of educators and researchers across four states. For general inquiries, please contact und.stem.strong@und.edu.

Ryan Summers
Dr. Ryan Summers
Associate Professor of Science Education, University of North Dakota
Specialties: Nature of science (NOS) understandings along with learners' engagement in science, which often includes evaluating instructional materials and measuring non-cognitive outcomes.
  • ryan.summers@UND.edu
Dr. Julie Robinson
Dr. Julie Robinson
Assistant Professor and Research Faculty, University of North Dakota
Specialties: Increasing teacher self-efficacy with culturally relevant science and engineering instruction through connection to place and community.
  • julie.robinson@UND.edu
Tugba Boz
Dr. Tugba Boz
Assistant Professor, University of North Dakota
Specialties: Online teacher PL in STEM, computer science and engineering education, integrated STEM education 
  • tugba.boz@UND.edu 
Cathy Ringstaff
Dr. Cathy Ringstaff
Senior Research Associate, WestEd
Specialties: Science education research that established the foundation for exploring modest supports and their usefulness for rural science education.
  • cringst@wested.org
Ashley Iveland
Dr. Ashley Iveland
Senior Research Associate, WestEd
Specialties: Science and engineering education research that focuses primarily on implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and better understanding of the engineering design process.
  • aivelan@wested.org
Dr. Meghan Macias
Dr. Meghan Macias
Research Associate, WestEd
Specialties: Minoritized students' experiences in STEM education.
  • mmacias2@wested.org

Dr. Rebekah Hammack
Dr. Rebekah Hammack
Assistant Professor of Science Education, Purdue University
Specialties: Impacts of centering place and local knowledge in science and engineering curriculum.
  • rhammack@purdue.edu
Martha Inouye
Martha Inouye
Associate Research Scientist, Science and Mathematics Teaching Center, University of Wyoming
Specialties: Facilitating K-12 science professional development around the state; use of responsive facilitation in supporting Framework-aligned instruction and assessment.
  • minouye@uwyo.edu
Dr. Min Jung Lee

Dr. Min Jung Lee

Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of North Dakota
Specialties: Supporting teacher professional learning in science and engineering education and qualitative research methodologies, including the study of teachers' knowledge and self-efficacy.
  • minjung.lee@UND.edu

     

Dr. Lauren Cabrera

Dr. Lauren Cabrera

Post-Doctoral Researcher at Purdue University
Specialties: Teacher influences on student motivation, engagement, and regulation in science classrooms.  
  • lncabrer@purdue.edu

Research Assistants

Maria Zaman

Maria Zaman, M.A.

Jan. 2023 to present
  • Ph.D. candidate, Teaching & Leadership, University of North Dakota

Jenna Gist

Jenna Gist

Jul. 2024 to present
  • Ph.D. candidate, Purdue University

John Galisky

John Galisky, M.Ed., M.A. 

Aug. 2023 to Jul. 2024
  • Ph.D. candidate, Education, University of California Santa Barbara

    Science and Engineering Education Intern, WestEd

Natalie Johansen

Natalie Johansen, B.S.

Aug. 2023 to Jul. 2024
  • M.S. student, Natural Science Education & Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming
College of Education & Human Development
Education Building Rm 200
231 Centennial Dr Stop 7189
Grand Forks, ND 58202-7189
P 701.777.2674

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College of Education & Human Development

Education Building Room 200
231 Centennial Dr Stop 7189
Grand Forks, ND 58202-7189

und.ehd@UND.edu

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