Supporting Beginning Teachers in STEM Content Areas Through Self-Directed Learning and Micro-Credentials

Supporting Beginning Teachers in STEM Content Areas Through Self-Directed Learning and Micro-Credentials

Erin K. West, Rachel Nelson, Katherine Chesnutt, James Beeler
Copyright: © 2024 |Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-5939-3.ch005
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Abstract

North Carolina teachers provide an important learning foundation for students. As teacher candidates complete their education requirements and begin working in schools, they are faced with many challenges. This discussion focuses on beginning teachers (BTs), or teachers with less than three years of teaching experience. After leaving their educator preparation programs (EPPs), BTs are required to complete onboarding programs and professional development plans while simultaneously learning to manage their daily workloads, plan and assess lessons, and manage their classroom. This can feel overwhelming for many BTs and may contribute to an early exit from the teaching profession. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) BTs in the state are much more likely to leave the classroom as compared to teachers that are not BTs, with the attrition rates for BTs and non BTs reported as 12.71% and 6.80%, respectively (NCDPI, 2023).
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Reform In Professional Learning For Beginning Teachers In Stem

The need for reform and research in STEM teacher education is a decades-old problem (Cochran-Smith et al., 2005; Darling-Hammond, 2005; Milner-Bolotin, 2018; National Research Council, 1996), with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1998) and National Research Council (1996; 2010) both recommending changes at all stages of teacher preparation, including learning opportunities for beginning teachers (BTs). While there is a need for shifting preparation for teachers in all content areas, BTs in STEM content areas bear a particular societal burden when it comes to preparing the next generation of citizens who will need the knowledge and skills to navigate the 21st century. Elementary and middle-grade teachers are considered generalists, sometimes lacking degrees (majors or minors) in STEM content areas (Goodnough et al., 2014; Heck et al., 2019). This lack of preparation in STEM manifests itself in a high reliance on textbooks and outside resources, traditional (i.e., not student-centered) science and mathematics pedagogies, and, as has been observed in some instances in elementary science, by nearly removing it entirely from the curriculum (Davis, 2006; Holroyd & Harlen, 1996; Murphy & Mancini-Samuelson, 2012; Trumper 2006; Zembal-Saul et al., 2000). Thus, it is paramount that BTs in STEM have access to resources that can support their individual growth in STEM education.

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