Poster

         Education and Outreach

Research experiences for pre-service teachers in biodiversity studies

Presenting Author
Michael Grillo
Description
There is a long history of professional scientists providing summer research experiences for practicing teachers (RETs). Yet, rarely do preservice teachers have opportunities to immerse themselves in authentic research experiences. With funding from NSF this project provides summer research experiences for pre-service teachers (i.e., undergraduates pursuing a degree in STEM education) at Loyola University Chicago with a research focus on biodiversity in an urban setting. Program activities are informed by prior research and best practices that show the benefits of: 1) involvement in all stages of scientific inquiry from asking research questions to communicating and defending findings; 2) exposing participants to diverse research areas and applications through seminars and reading primary literature; 3) systematic reflection on the inquiry experience; 4) “hands-on” mentoring by research faculty; and 5) opportunities to demonstrate competence in tangible ways. While there is a body of research that supports these types of research experiences for teachers, there is less known about how immersive research experiences influence pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understandings of the ideas, concepts, practices, norms and discourses of science. In turn, there is also limited literature on how these types of research experiences, early in teachers’ preparation, can contribute to their capability to support their students’ science learning and engagement. Thus, this project will contribute to broader understandings about how pre-service teachers research experiences can best be incorporated into the preparation of secondary science teachers.