NSF Awards: 1852820
2022 (see original presentation & discussion)
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Undergraduate, Graduate
This video describes Clarkson University's Noyce Scholarship program, or STEM Up NY, and how it is connected to access, equity, and inclusion. The video shares the power of using reflective practices.
Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
Hi Everyone; I am Seema Rivera, and I am the PI for Clarkson's Noyce program. We are about halfway through our first Track 1 grant cycle and at the start of a collaborative Track 4 research grant focusing on rural schools' recruitment and retention. Our video focuses on our reflective practices; what type of reflective practices do your scholars use? Or what other types of activities do you have them engage in? Please feel free to share ideas, I look forward to the discussion this week!
Regina Ciphrah
Liza Bondurant
Hi Seema! During my methods classes, I ask my undergraduate preservice teachers (PTs) to write reflections after each field experience. A few of the reflection prompts are always the same. I add 1-2 different/new focused prompts for each field experience. I think PTs benefit more from this assignment if they do it immediately after the field experience. If they wait until the end of the month (I only collect once a month), it becomes more like a busy work assignment, and I think they have forgotten most of the details. Each week in class, I also allocate time for a reflection discussion. During student teaching, I ask interns to gather artifacts to demonstrate a plethora of indicators. With each artifact they reflect on how the activity went and what they would do differently if they could redo the activity. They do a similar reflection after teaching a unit plan.
Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
Thanks, Liza! I love the idea of the artifacts...since we talk regularly, I'd love to ask you more about that! Thank you for sharing!
Deena Gould
Seema, great work supporting your scholars to realize the power of being reflective and inclusive STEM teachers. I would love to talk with you more about the embedded prompts you use to guide your teachers to deeper reflections about equity, your teachers' critical action research, and the university collaboration for teachers in rural areas. I also want to say that I really loved your recent 2022 publication in the Journal of Science Teacher Education, Navigating Race in Science Teacher Education: The Counterstory of a Woman Faculty of Color, 33(2), p192-205. You really exemplify being a reflective practitioner yourself!
Cynthia Callard
Seema Rivera
Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
Thanks so much, Deena! I would also love to talk about the prompts related to equity; we had to consider how COVID revealed many inequities. Email me if you'd like to connect, I would love to brainstorm more ideas! riveras@clarkson.edu
Regina Ciphrah
Greetings Seema! I am looking for resources to support reflective practice and am interested in your prompts regarding equity. I will send an email to schedule a time to chat!
Wendy Smith
Research Professor
Thanks for sharing your Noyce project video. What kinds of COVID-related impacts are you seeing your data (if any)? Do your reflective practices and action research with Noyce Scholars also involve their cooperating teachers or mentors? What do you think are some of the particular challenges of recruiting and retaining rural STEM teachers that developing more reflective practitioners can address?
Seema Rivera
Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
Hi Wendy, thanks for the message. We have not had a cohort yet of students who COVID has not impacted, so I think we had to adjust how much we could expect from them. Also, many of their reflections were related to hybrid teaching, technology-equity issues, students being quarantined, etc. We don't currently involve their mentor teachers in these practices, but I would love to do that! They already do so much for us, but I'd love to learn how to include them more in a way that also is beneficial to them. In terms of reflection and recruiting and retaining STEM teachers, I'm hoping a connection is made in their reflections about what they value. Many of our scholars grew up in rural areas. Reflecting on their own experiences and how they want o make a difference helps them with real needs in rural schools.
Jen Davinack
You're doing really important work that is so critical for improving the lives of rural students!! Thank you so much for putting together this video and sharing it! I appreciated being able to understand more about the incredible work you're doing in this progam.
Cynthia Callard
Seema Rivera
Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
Thanks so much, Jen!
Laura Ettinger
Seema, I really enjoyed watching this video and learning more about the Noyce Scholarship program! As someone who works at Clarkson but is not in the Department of Education...I've had a few conversations with Clarkson's Noyce Scholars and attended some of their research presentations. I have been impressed by their level of self-reflection and passion for creating inclusive, welcoming classrooms. Thank you so much for the good work you're doing!
Cynthia Callard
Seema Rivera
David Lockett
Data Science Outreach and Grants Development
What an amazing Noyce project. Reflexive STEM teaching advances the awareness, self-efficacy, and the ability of cooperating teachers and mentors to cultivate inclusive STEM learning environments. This in turn provides activities to develop themselves as reflective, inclusive practitioners. How can we address rural STEM shortages?
Seema Rivera
Deena Gould
Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
That's a great question, David; thanks for the comment. I hope this track 4 grant we are a part of can help provides some answers. The research question for this track 4 grant asks what factors impact the recruitment and retention of STEM teachers in rural schools? I hope we can help contribute to the field by providing some insight into this!
David Lockett
Cynthia Callard
Executive Director and Faculty
Thank you for sharing your project! I really appreciate not only the reflective practices that you are embedding in the program for your scholars, but also that you are supporting them to develop their own collaborative learning community. So often teachers can feel isolated in rural settings (being the ONLY middle school math teacher, for example), so developing this community that they can continue to rely on and draw on is critical. I also loved the idea of somehow engaging the mentor/cooperating teacher in these reflective practices (but we know that they are just barely hanging on right now!). I am wondering if you can say a little bit more about how you explicitly connected to access, equity, and inclusion beyond the pandemic? Were these concepts explored in rural contexts in particular? (I went to SUNY Potsdam for my undergraduate work in education, so it is so wonderful to hear about such an impactful program in the region. "Warms" (HA!) my heart.)
Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
Thanks so much for your comments, Cynthia! Good to hear from a fellow upstater! We had just a short time of our grant before the pandemic hit, but in that time, we focused on poverty and access to STEM opportunities, including mentoring and transportation. Other equity issues were highlighted during the pandemic. Still, as you mentioned, I want to focus on equity in rural schools, including what it means to be culturally responsive in a rural school. Thanks again for the comment!
Scott Soldat-Valenzuela
Hi Seema,
Excellent video about creating inclusive environments for teachers through reflection. We too focus on access, inclusion and equity. We have a lot of conversations about creating a stem identity for underserved students throughout the United States. I'm wondering if you would consider sharing your research and experience with the Clarkson's Noyce program with our team?
Thanks,
Scott Soldat-Valenzuela Executive Director Timezone: MST-AZ Email: scott@emerginginvestigators.org Website: www.emerginginvestigators.org Phone: 480-381-1935Seema Rivera
Associate Professor of STEM Education
Thanks for the comment, Scott. Yes, I will look at the website and see how we fit with your team. Thank you!
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.