Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This program provides the necessary framework for elementary school teachers to help their students understand the content and practices of pollinator research, in the areas of food, agriculture, and natural resources. Reforms in K-12 STEM teaching recommend using the practices of scientists to teach concepts in science. However, teachers often lack the ability to generate science learning opportunities that do not involve simply leading students through linear, stepwise exercises, which contrasts with the actual dynamic, interactive work of scientists. We will use the USDA Strategic Goal of "Food Security", particularly the crucial role of ecosystems services of pollinators on food production, to provide this framework. We will recruit elementary teachers from rural and urban communities that work with underserved populations to co-develop and test science curriculum at the K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 grade bands. This curriculum will involve hands-on activities in school gardens and yards and be integrated with other subject areas important in elementary teaching. We will develop and offer a hybrid (in person/remote) professional development program for 16 elementary teachers, engaging them in activities using the practices of pollinator research accessible to young learners. Teachers will be subsequently supported as they engage students in these practices-based, integrated projects, refining the curriculum as needed. Finally, additional modules will be created to offer a fully online version of the professional development program. The tested and validated elementary curriculum from this project will be disseminated broadly to multiple communities through conferences for agricultural professionals and educators and posted through our online learning portal.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
This program provides the necessary framework for elementary school teachers to help their students understand the content and practices of pollinator research, in the areas of food, agriculture, and natural resources. Reforms in K-12 STEM teaching recommend using the practices of scientists to teach concepts in science. However, teachers often lack the ability to generate science learning opportunities that do not involve simply leading students through linear, stepwise exercises, which contrasts with the actual dynamic, interactive work of scientists. We will use the USDA Strategic Goal of "Food Security", particularly the crucial role of ecosystems services of pollinators on food production, to provide this framework. We will recruit elementary teachers from rural and urban communities that work with underserved populations to co-develop and test science curriculum at the K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 grade bands. This curriculum will involve hands-on activities in school gardens and yards and be integrated with other subject areas important in elementary teaching. We will develop and offer a hybrid (in person/remote) professional development program for 16 elementary teachers, engaging them in activities using the practices of pollinator research accessible to young learners. Teachers will be subsequently supported as they engage students in these practices-based, integrated projects, refining the curriculum as needed. Finally, additional modules will be created to offer a fully online version of the professional development program. The tested and validated elementary curriculum from this project will be disseminated broadly to multiple communities through conferences for agricultural professionals and educators and posted through our online learning portal.The following goals will guide the design, implementation and evaluation of the AG SEED-LINGS program: (1) increase elementary teachers' and students' understanding of science practices (e.g., analyzing and interpreting data) related to pollinator research; (2) prepare elementary teachers to engage their students in classroom projects that parallel the PDs' pollinator research as it applies to issues of food production; (3) increase elementary teachers' and students' understanding of agricultural science concepts (e.g., life cycles, adaptations) underlying plant-pollinator research; and (4) increase elementary teachers' awareness of available resources available for engaging students in practices related to pollinator research.
Project Methods
The AG SEED-LINGS program will initially engage with a small cohort of teachers to develop integrated K-5 curricula and then transitions to offer a hybrid model of PD (partially in-person and partially online) followed by fully online PD programming. These workshops and online modules will be designed to address content and approaches employed by a research group and to prepare teachers to engage their students in age-appropriate classroom research projects. Initially, we will partner with STEM researchers (faculty and graduate students) with a cohort of up to 5 elementary (K-5) teachers from rural and urban schools serving underrepresented and underserved students. Using the researcher-practitioner partnership approach (Penuel et al., 2015), CSATS faculty and pollinator researchers in collaboration with the elementary teachers will co-develop curricula to engage students in integrated activities associated with plant-pollinator studies. In the following year, we will use a hybrid approach to offer a series of online modules focused on the pollinator-related curriculum and in-person workshops to engage up to 16 elementary teachers in targeted science practices. Finally, we will complete the development of the online resources to provide remote PD programming to support an additional 30 elementary teachers in learning and implementing the integrated curriculum. Teachers will be able to progress through the modules at their own pace with access to the AG SEED-LINGS team to ask questions and acquire feedback. All teachers participating in the PD programming will be able to receive continuing education hours required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.Five elementary teachers will be recruited from the collaborating school districts to co-construct the AG SEED-LINGS curriculum that will engage young students in pollinator research in three distinct settings: (1) outdoors in the school garden and/or landscape, (2) in the classroom/lab, and (3) on the computer, using age-appropriate computational tools. With teachers from all grade bands, work will be conducted to ensure alignment with standards and vertical alignment in line with learning progressions set forth in NGSS. With support from the project team, these teachers will test and refine the curriculum in their classrooms with students.A hybrid PD program will be developed and implemented with up to 16 elementary teachers, with preference given to teachers from schools with high percentage of low socio-economic status students and to multiple teachers from the same school district. Teachers will complete a series of online modules and conduct readings about pollinator research prior to attending a 3-day in-person workshop at Penn State University Park campus. A dedicated website will be created for the AG SEED-LINGS program. With content provided by the project team, an instructional designer will develop and organize the online modules. In addition, a model developer will make improvements to the NetLogo Honey Bee Colony Collapse model (Huang, 2015). During the 3-day workshop, teachers will hear from PDs and graduate students from CPR about their research followed by conducting activities in the field, in the classroom, and on the computer that include similar science practices. Video footage of the 3-day workshop activities will be captured, edited, and used in the creation of additional online modules. Finally, a fully online PD program will be developed and offered to 30 teachers who were not able to participate in the hybrid program. With additional curricular-focused content and video footage, a complete series of online modules will be hosted on the AG SEED-LINGS website and made available for teachers to complete at each of the three grade-band levels (K-1, 2-3, and 4-5). These modules will be structured such that teachers engage with the content and practices on their own (as a student) followed by modules that support them to incorporate the curriculum into their classrooms with students (as the teacher). Additionally, we will develop a discussion board on the AG SEED-LINGS website to enable teachers to share findings from classroom implementation of the curriculum and solicit advice from the project team and each other on challenges they may be facing. This portal also provides another mechanism for research faculty and graduate students to share their research updates and provide support for classroom implementation. This website will be managed by project staff and will extend beyond funded life of the grant, serving as a data resource for monitoring the lasting influence of the AG SEED-LINGS program on K-5 teachers.