The Vanderbilt Scientist in the Classroom Partnership: A Novel Collaborative Apprenticeship Model for Situated Professional Development

Ufnar, Jennifer A.; Lee, Carver; Shepherd, Virginia L.

doi:10.15695/jstem/v1i1.18

Cited by 7 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, a number of studies have underscored the need for PD to go beyond the traditional "one and done" workshop and provide sustained opportunities over a broad time frame to make a difference (Cohen and Hill, 2000;Garet et al, 2001). In a recent study we have reported significant gains by partner teachers, similar to a collaborative apprenticeship model (Ufnar et al, 2018;Ufnar and Shepherd, 2019). Teachers participating in the SCP program not only participate in a summer workshop (currently 40 hours of PD), but also work with a scientist for one full day per week during the academic year (150 hours), and participate in two additional planning days with the program staff during the school year (16 hours).…”

Section: Participating Teacher Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 81%

The Magic in the Classroom: A Twenty-Year Sustained Scientist in the Classroom Partnership Program

Ufnar

Shepherd

2020

JSTEM

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The National Science Foundation GK-12 program, started in 1999, partnered university STEM undergraduate and graduate students with K-12 classroom teachers to co-teach inquiry science "to boost the content of elementary and secondary education and the quality of graduate and undergraduate education at the same time" (Colwell, 1999). The national program ended in 2010, with many of the programs unable to continue beyond NSF funding (Ufnar et al., 2012). In the current study we describe the adaptations to the original Vanderbilt GK-12 program-now called the Scientist in the Classroom Partnership (SCP)-that have allowed the program to continue for over 20 years while maintaining what will be called the "core components". The SCP has been integrated into the STEM program of the partner school district, and is now in its 21st year. All of the participants in the SCP program have benefited from the experience: fellows have gained important teaching, communication, and mentoring skills; teachers have gained science content knowledge and confidence in teaching science; and students have exhibited increased excitement about science and interest in science careers. The SCP has provided professional training for 184 fellows; has provided over 200 professional development hours per teacher for 138 middle and high school teachers in 35 schools; and has positively impacted the STEM learning of over 30,000 students.

show abstract

Section: Participating Teacher Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 81%

The Magic in the Classroom: A Twenty-Year Sustained Scientist in the Classroom Partnership Program

Ufnar

Shepherd

2020

JSTEM

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The top skill that fellows mentioned in the current study is the gain in teaching skills. Working closely with a skilled partner teacher for 1-2 days immersed in a science classroom provided on-site professional development that few graduate students or postdocs ever experience (Ufnar et al, 2018). As pointed out by Page and colleagues (2011), participation in a GK-12 program creates partnerships with teachers, enabling fellows to team-teach in K-12 classrooms, giving them the experience of immersion, learning on the job, and gaining important teaching skills from their partner teacher.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critical to the success of the partnership and the skills gained through their experience in the classroom, fellows' understanding of the role that they played in collaboration with their partner teacher was examined in the 2011 survey. This partnership has been previous described as a novel type of "collaborative apprenticeship (CA)" (Ufnar and Shepherd, 2018). The authors proposed that the SCP CA model allows fellows and teachers to work together in a mutually beneficial apprenticeship as content experts (fellows) and pedagogical experts (teachers).…”

Section: Importance Of Scp Program Components For Fellows'mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sustained Scientist in the Classroom Partnership: A Model for Innovative STEM Graduate Training Programs

Ufnar

Shepherd

2021

JSTEM

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Scientist in the Classroom Partnership (SCP) is a program of the Vanderbilt Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach (CSEO) that partners scientists-in-training (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) with classroom teachers to co-teach one day per week in elementary and middle schools. The program was initially funded through an NSF GK-12 award, and has been sustained since 2007 through a collaboration between the Vanderbilt CSEO and Metro Nashville Public Schools. Over the 20 years of the program, more than 180 STEM graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have participated. In the current study, the impact of the program on the 83 participants from 2000-2009 was examined using Likert-scale and open-ended surveys. Results indicated that participants gained skills not often found in traditional research training programs, including teaching, communication, teamwork, and leadership. These results strongly suggest that the SCP represents a program that provides STEM PhDs with skills beyond the usual graduate training programs that they will need as they enter traditional and non-traditional STEM careers.

show abstract

“…Feeling nervous and unprepared to lead some activities on her own, she was hoping for a scientist to share their expertise. By establishing a teacher-scientist partnership, teachers can receive assistance which enables them to conquer their hesitations surrounding teaching certain content areas (Ufnar & Shepherd, 2018). After two weeks of collaborations and codeveloping a lesson, the teacher and scientist began their classroom interaction.…”

Section: Innovative Classroom Visit Examplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence indicates that participation in scientist-teacher partnerships can have positive effects on the scientists, teachers, and students (e.g., Brown et al, 2014;Herrington, et al, 2016;Shein & Tsai, 2015;Ufnar et al, 2017Ufnar et al, , 2018. One study found that participation in such a program resulted in positive belief, value, and attitude changes for teachers regarding their ability to teach inquiry-based science in their classrooms and their schools (Herrington et al, 2016).…”

Section: Benefits To Teachers/scientistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science in School: Transforming K-12 Outreach through Scientist Teacher Partnerships

Abramowitz

Ennes

Killingsworth

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Scientist in Every Florida School (SEFS) program was started in 2019 with a long-term vision to connect Earth systems scientists with public K-12 schools in Florida and therefore create long-term scientist-teacher partnerships. SEFS fulfills personalized requests to create meaningful and impactful interactions to support teacher pedagogy and student learning. We have as part of our mission a focus on mainstream public schools, and in particular, those that are Title I. We also are committed to working with at-risk teachers. The major components of our program include the scientist-teacher partnerships, focused professional development workshops on Florida's Earth systems (air, water, land, and life), classroom visits, and other web-based activities. Although still only in its first few years, the project and its more than 600 scientists have a wide reach with over 850 teachers and 53,000 students participating in our programs, which were delivered virtually in the 2020-2021 school year covering about 60% of Florida's 67 counties. In this article, we describe our programmatic features as well as recommendations for those who could implement similar programs.

show abstract

The Vanderbilt Scientist in the Classroom Partnership: A Novel Collaborative Apprenticeship Model for Situated Professional Development

Cited by 7 publications

References 34 publications

The Magic in the Classroom: A Twenty-Year Sustained Scientist in the Classroom Partnership Program

The Magic in the Classroom: A Twenty-Year Sustained Scientist in the Classroom Partnership Program

The Sustained Scientist in the Classroom Partnership: A Model for Innovative STEM Graduate Training Programs

Science in School: Transforming K-12 Outreach through Scientist Teacher Partnerships

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About