Page 100 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

Systematic Support for STEM Pre-Service Teachers

STEM. Learning activities falling under the four pillars were designed and developed using social con-
structivist and interactive approaches that emphasize knowledge construction through social interaction
and through shared rather than individual experience (Vygotsky, 1978). Specifically, these activities are
based on the assumptions that learning is a social activity, knowledge is a product of human interaction,
and knowledge is socially and culturally constructed that is influenced by the group and its environ-
ment. Embracing these assumptions, the model applies two guiding principles in developing the learning
activities: (1) individuals create meaning through interaction with others and the environment they live
in, and (2) meaningful learning occurs only when individuals are engaged in social activities. Adopting
these principles, the learning activities under each of the four-pillars allow pre-service teachers:

• To gain insights into STEM careers by interacting, in STEM career events, with guest speakers or
role models from STEM professions or with career counselors;
• To experience real world STEM applications by exploring STEM facilities and workplaces and by
interacting with STEM professionals in field trips;
• To build STEM knowledge and skills by interacting with STEM mentors or STEM faculty in in-
tensive mentoring programs;
• To gain hands-on experience both about STEM learning and STEM teaching by interacting with
STEM professionals and K-12 students in competitive STEM events.

Running through the learning activities in the four-pillar STEM professional development model
are the principles of promoting learning through scaffolding and facilitating learning though hands-on
and personal experience. These principles reflect the intention to maximize STEM pre-service teachers’
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978) with the help of more capable or knowledge-
able others (e.g., STEM professionals and STEM faculty) and to improve STEM pre-service teachers’
self-efficacy beliefs about teaching STEM through enriched mastery experience (Bandura 1986, 1988).

Learning Activities from Project Engage

Each of the four pillars in the STEM professional development model proposed in this chapter has its
corresponding learning activities. To illustrate the possible forms and content of these learning activities,
this section introduces and describes some learning activities from Project Engage.

Career Counseling

Career development professionals play a key role in aiding the nation in developing a diverse STEM
development workforce (Byars-Winston, 2014). Byars-Winston proposed a framework for career inter-
vention with areas focusing on multicultural STEM careers awareness, communication about STEM, and
counselor skills and practice. As a result, Career Counseling is a learning activity embedded in Project
Engage that can be used to serve the purpose of helping pre-service teachers to gain insights into STEM
careers. In Project Engage, Career Counseling affords opportunities for Project Engage participants to
foster relationships with professionals working in STEM industries. The career counselor is responsible
for individual career counseling sessions with project participants and development of a comprehensive
professional exploration program. The project participants meet with the career counselor twice dur-
ing the first academic semester for comprehensive needs assessment and general guidance. The Career

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