- Nadia Mills
- Assistant Professor
- Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
- University of the Virgin Islands
- Lawanda Cummings
- http://www.linkedin.com/in/lawanda-cummings-57b60411
- Director of STEM Education Research
- Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
- University of the Virgin Islands
RII Track-1: Ridge to Reef Processes and Interdependence Drivers of Small Isl...
NSF Awards: 1946412
2022 (see original presentation & discussion)
All Age Groups
The Virgin Islands Institute for STEM Education Research and Practice (VI-ISERP) professional development model provides structure for STEM teachers to create real-world, culturally responsive, Project Based Lessons (PBL) STEM projects. One component of our PD model that have made the creation and implementation of these projects successful is the development of a professional learning community (PLC); which includes university faculty, EPSCoR researchers, and STEM 6-12 teachers. We introduced a new PD program for our teachers, the PBL Certificate Program, which forges a more formal and active role for VI-ISERP researchers in providing support to the teachers through 1) experiential learning to both the teachers and students (i.e., field work) and 2) intensive development of place-based curriculum plans. We welcomed our first cohort in Fall 2021 where teacher-researcher partnerships were formed in mangrove restoration, coral reef restoration, and agriculture. In addition to strengthening our collaborations among VI-EPSCoR researchers, we established partnerships with SUBSUME, Microsoft, CSTA, Code.org, and the Hines Family foundation to provide a series of workshops called TechKnowledge for Teachers. This initiative, beginning Fall 2021, addresses the limited formal exposure to computer science education for teacher and students in grades 6-12 in the USVI. This partnership integrates computing and coding skills across all grade bands and subjects. A direct benefit from this collaboration with the PBL Certificate Program is the increase in teachers’ knowledge, skill, and accessible resources to bolster students’ technological skills in developing educational products.
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Lawanda Cummings
Director of STEM Education Research
Greetings everyone!
We are so excited to discuss the amazing work occurring in the USVI through the Virgin Island Institute of STEM Education Research and Practice (VI-ISERP)! As part of the Workforce Development component for the Virgin Islands Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI-EPSCoR) grant, we have leveraged partnerships with local agencies, government, foundations, and corporations to provide support to teachers during the pandemic. This video showcases the added capacity to expand our offerings in teacher PD to encompass CS education through partnerships with Subsume, Microsoft, CSTA, Code.org, and the Hines Family foundation.
Here are some questions for discussion:
1) What strategies are needed to develop mutually beneficial partnerships between the education and corporate sectors?
2) How do these offerings help align student learning outcomes to the trends in STEM workforce growth?
3) How can these partnerships contribute to building STEM education equity and pathways for URM inclusion?
We look forward to further discussion.
Dr. Marie Mora
Jayashree Balakrishna
Partnerships like you have with a PBL certificate program are great ideas. In our Grant we forged relationships with a nearby university for skills and. research experiences. We let students join faculty in the workshops on GIS and AUTOCAD. Having students and teachers learning together helped students forge strong bonds with faculty.
I think creating a certificate program would have helped us a lot, Thanks for sharing,
Lawanda Cummings
Director of STEM Education Research
We had an undergraduate student practicum that would close the circle so students, teachers, and our researchers can work together to bolster STEM skills and knowledge. Those efforts have been put on hold for the pandemic but we are finding other ways to involved students in out technology trainings with teachers.
Nancy Hopkins-Evans
Senior Director
The partnerships you have developed to support computer science learning for teachers who then can use what they have learned to improve and enhance their instruction is great. Could you share more about the PBL certificate program such as how many teachers, researchers and university faculty are involved, what type of place based curriculum plans have been developed and how and if computer science was incorporated?
Lawanda Cummings
Director of STEM Education Research
Of course, Our PBL program focuses on pairing 6-12 grade teachers with one of our faculty researchers that investigate local environmental phenomena. Presently we have 3 researchers in agriculture, mangrove restoration, and coral restoration within VI-EPSCOR (viepscor.org) that work with 7 teachers to bolter content understanding and provide guidance as teachers develop Project Based Lessons. Teachers gain exposure to the research work and create the lessons in year 1. In year 2 they implement and have a facilitated field trip with the researcher for their class. We have teachers that have used CS Ed with agricultural planning, and some that are using micro bits for the measure in coral environment stability experiments...
Anna Suarez
President
I enjoyed learning about the PBL core in your curriculum offerings. Beyond the workshops, what contributions are your industry and education org partners making?
Lawanda Cummings
Director of STEM Education Research
We have been very fortunate. MIcro bit/ARM Foundation provided much-needed teaching sets of microbits and provided free training. The Jones Foundation funded personal wifi devices for teachers amidst the pandemic when we were forced to online instruction and helped us provide tablets when many of our teachers were teaching from smartphones. Our partners at GaTech have trained teachers on their campus and are hosting a camp for students.
Anna Suarez
President
Terrific! We work with Microsoft Philanthropies providing support to nonprofits and universities receiving support from MS. What do you envision needing in terms of additional funding from NSF and potentially other agencies for your project? And how could MS support your project goals more extensively?
Thank you again for sharing your project and providing more project details.
Christine Royce
Professor
The use of PBL around a local and relevant topic is a wonderful way to engage the teachers. The topics (coral reefs, mangroves, acupuncture) seem to be rather different from each other. Is there a specific reason that these were selected? In other words, are these topics that are ones that would make sense to bring back to the teacher's classrooms for ease of use? Also - it looks like an amazing location from the photos.
Lawanda Cummings
Director of STEM Education Research
These topics are a part of the resiliency research for the larger VI-EPSCoR grant (viepscor.org). Coral Reefs, Mangroves, and Agriculture are also deeply tied to island life, especially after the hurricanes of 2017. The threats of food security make agriculture very important. The destruction of those storms spanned living spaces, our mangroves, and the local reef. As a community these topics connect in regards to island health and our capacity to rebuild.
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.