The project is studying the impact of the mathematics and science intensive pre-service preparation program for elementary school teachers at North Carolina State University called the Accomplished Elementary Teachers of Mathematics and Science (ATOMS). Faculty in NCSU's Department of Elementary Education, researchers at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy's Education Research Data Center and the NC State College Professional Education Office are involved in conducting this project.

The project includes assessments of pre-service teachers' math and science content, teacher performance, self-report surveys, and teacher interviews. Researchers are also tracking participants' perspectives on the program and comparing knowledge dimensions and teaching performance of a sub-sample of ATOMS teachers to a similar group of non-ATOMS teachers. Each of the study dimensions (Knowledge Dimension, Teaching Performance, and Perspectives on the Program) will be assessed at three time points across this longitudinal study, providing a model for elementary teacher development of STEM teaching.

The study has potential to advance current understanding regarding teacher preparation, especially in terms of supporting elementary teachers' instruction in science and math. The project is also innovative and potentially transformative by asking interesting and pertinent questions of how teachers can affect the learning of their students. Besides generating new knowledge, this project also has the potential to impact STEM education research. The ATOMS pre-service teacher preparation program may serve as a model for effective pre-service teacher education across the nation if the researchers can clearly demonstrate the effect of participating in the program in changing teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and skills, as well as their students' achievement. Investigators propose the dissemination of findings to both K-12 audiences and institutions of higher education. Additionally, key findings will be bulleted for policy makers in brief reports or brochures sent to deans of Colleges of Education nationwide, highlighting recommendations based on the findings.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of how high school physics can have a maximum positive impact on students' self-perceptions, thus noticeably impacting their outcomes in this subject matter. Its focus is on the development of a positive physics identity (students' perceptions of themselves in relation to this field in terms of competence, performance, persistence, interest, and recognition by others) among high school students, particularly females, as a means to increase their academic performance.

Preliminary data analysis from an ongoing NSF-funded project (GSE/RES 0624444) suggests a strong correlation between the physics identity construct (e.g., Do you see yourself as a physics person?) and the study's proposed physics identity measures (i.e., performance, competence, recognition, and interest). Although most students, especially females, conveyed depressed attitudes toward themselves as physics learners, as well as toward the discipline, those who expressed favorable perceptions toward physics learning identified a set of activities that appear to affect the development of a positive physics identity: (a) focus on conceptual understanding, (b) frequency of laboratory activities that address their beliefs, (c) frequency of opportunities to share and interact, (d) teacher encouragement, and (e) holding discussions on current relevant science topics.

The PI hypothesizes that students in general, and females in particular, develop depressed attitudes toward physics, and negative perceptions of themselves as physics learners due to the lack of personally meaningful learning experiences. Thus, she submits the following research questions: (1) What high school physics teaching practices predict physics identity development?; (2) How do these strategies influence physics identity development, especially mediated by perceptions of their performance, competence, recognition, and interest?; (3) What is the long-term impact of these experiences on physics identity as students traverse their undergraduate careers?; and (4) What is the most appropriate pedagogical plan for high school physics teachers to ensure adequate development of positive physics identity?

The study's proposed methods consist of case studies, a longitudinal study, development of a pedagogical plan, and the implementation of this plan. Classroom case studies of successful teachers draw on the previously referred survey of which 348 (90 females) finished high school physics with a self-rating as a physics person (5 on a 0-5 scale), including positive perceptions of instructional and leaning experiences. The longitudinal study aims at understanding the long-term impact of specific pedagogical practices on students' physics identity,including 15 students (8 females) who will be tracked over 3 to 4 years through surveys and interviews at the end of each academic year. Development of the pedagogical plan will include 15 sample lesson plans with detailed activities that connect physics content to real-world contexts, counter stereotypes about physics, analysis of underrepresentation in physics, and physics identity formative assessments. The plan will be tested through a quasi-experimental study with four teachers using the same physics course with at least two groups. Each teacher will implement the plan in one of the groups; the other group will be used as control. Of the 180 physics classes, approximately 15 (one every two weeks) will use the education plan. A physics identity scale will be administered at the beginning and end of each course. Classroom observations will be conducted while the plan is implemented.

The Undergraduate Science Course Reform Serving Pre-service Teachers: Evaluation of a Faculty Professional Development Model project is informally known as the National Study of Education in Undergraduate Science (NSEUS). This 5-year project focuses on critical needs in the preparation and long-term development of pre-service, undergraduate, K-6 teachers of science. The goal is to investigate the impact on these students of undergraduate, standards-based, reform entry-level science courses developed by faculty in the NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics (NOVA) professional development model. Twenty reform and 20 comparison undergraduate science courses from a national population of 101 diverse institutions participating in NOVA, stratified by institutional type, were be selected and compared in a professional development impact design model. Data is being collected in extended on-site visits using multiple quantitative and qualitative instruments and analyzed using comparative and relational studies at multiple points in the impact design model. Criteria for success of the project will be determined by conclusions drawn from the research questions; including evidence and effect sizes of short-term impacts on undergraduate students and long-term effects on graduated in-service teachers in their own classroom science teaching; identification of characteristics of undergraduate reformed courses that produce significant impacts; identification of characteristics of effective faculty, and effective dissemination.