Combining Our Strengths:Improving STEM Interest and Participation in the MiddleSchools through Creative Collaborations between College

Faculty and Middle School Teachers

Dr. Tanya Cofer, Director of STEM Initiatives

A USG STEM Initiative at The College of Coastal Georgia

May 17, 2017

STEM Initiative Goals Addressed

• Goal 1: Increase the number of K-12 students whoprepare for and are interested in majoring in science,technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) incollege.

• Goal 3: Goal 3: Prepare and support P-12 STEMteachers in Georgias classrooms.

The College of Coastal Georgia 1/10

Brief Description of Activities

We paired college faculty with experienced lead teachers in theGlynn County middle schools, thus bringing together expertisein middle grades curricula, pedagogy, and content expertise.Together they have created unique lessons for middle gradesstudents aimed at increasing their interest and participation inSTEM as well as providing and fostering the development of“science capital” (science-related aspirations, experiences,sense of the utility, self-efficacy, e.g.).

The College of Coastal Georgia 2/10

Teams and Activities• Thomas Hippchen (CCGA) and Carol Denis (JaneMacon Middle School): “Fun Math Fridays”:Co-taught a series of innovative, discovery learningactivities on rates of change and slope concepts as well asthe Pythagorean Theorem using online educational gamesand technology such as Desmos.

• Holly Nance (CCGA) and Jennifer Brashear (RisleyMiddle School) Ocean Acidification and “STEM Day”:Co-developed and taught lessons that tied into an existingunit on global warming.

• Isidor Ruderfer (CCGA) and Kimberly Sapp(Needwood Middle School): “MythbustingCombustion Concepts”: Co-developed and taught lessonsthat let students make conjectures about and test whathappens when a lit candle in a bowl of water is coveredwith a glass jar.

The College of Coastal Georgia 3/10

ResultsIn our (redesigned) proposal, we stated:

Pairing faculty with teacher leaders that have recognizedexpertise in middle grades STEM pedagogy allows for thedevelopment of truly novel STEM lessons that capitalize onthe strengths of both the CCGA faculty and the lead teachers.Moreover, allowing a select group of faculty to work at greatdepth with the teachers and the schools provides faculty,teachers and students with a richer experience and deepensthe connections between the two communities.

Given the initial feedback from the participants, we feel thatthe project has surpassed our expectations in this regard. Infact, all three of this years teams have indicated a strongdesire to continue their work on this initiative next year andthe intention to continue their partnerships over the long term.

The College of Coastal Georgia 4/10

Dr. Nance is awesome and I have loved working with her...Dr.Nance’s strengths were her strong content knowledge andapproachability...I enjoyed our planning times together and feelthat the college has been opened up to me as a resource tosupport what I want to do in class.

-Jennifer Brashear, 8th Grade Science Teacher, Risley MS

The College of Coastal Georgia 5/10

Ruderfer brought in not only exceptional enthusiasm for theproject, but special understanding of the commonmisconceptions that students have as they enter the collegeenvironment and how they can be dispelled. [I came away witha] new outlook, innovative ideas, and a flexibility of thinkingwhen looking at commonly accepted science practices.

-Kim Sapp, 8th Grade Science Teacher, Needwood MS

The College of Coastal Georgia 6/10

[Carol Dennis] gave me great ideas for teaching our learningsupport students. I liked seeing the way concepts are taughtand ordered in K-12. You really have to be a much bettereducator to be a K-12 teacher! -Thomas Hippchen, Lecturer of Mathematics, CCGA

Our ocean acidification lesson went well today at Risley MS! Itwas actually a lot of fun, and I think the kids learnedsomething. Jenn and I were a good team!

-Dr. Holly Nance, Assistant Profesor of Biology, CCGA

The College of Coastal Georgia 7/10

Kim is very insightful. We have a lot of fun experimentingwith ideas and she has become a real colleague. She helps mesee how the science can really work in the classroom.

-Isidor Ruderfer, Lecturer of Biology, CCGA

The College of Coastal Georgia 8/10

Challenges and Lessons LearnedMoving from plan to project. Creating a feasible andsustainable implementation plan from our initial proposal tookmany cross-institutional meetings and an entire semester. Assuch, the pace of implementation was a bit rushed towards theend of the school year. Additionally, unexpected problems,such as the loss of one of our faculty teams mid-way throughimplementation, will necessitate the development ofcontingency plans for the future.

Structure. Many of the participants actually requested moredeadlines and a stricter timeline.

Pilot-Year Hiccups. Though participants characterized thisyear as a “sink or swim” or “get this figured out” kind of year,we feel that the students, teachers and CCGA faculty learneda lot and developed deep and productive collaborations.

The College of Coastal Georgia 9/10

Plans for the Future

• Complete faculty and teacher interviews.

• Decide whether or not to continue existing teams.

• Create a plan to involve Glynn Middle School.

• Develop our online resource repository.

• Create new ways to record experiences and promote evenricher collaboration and reflection. (Team blogs?)

• Create a calendar of expectations and deadlines forparticipant teams. (Make this collaborative with all teamsgiving input.)

• Discuss next steps on leveraging the connections we haveestablished with the lead teachers to expand the impactof our initiative to more teachers and students in ourpartner schools.

The College of Coastal Georgia 10/10

Combining Our Strengths:

A USG STEM Initiative at CCGADr. Tanya Cofer, Director

May 17th, 2017

The InitiativeCollege faculty and experienced lead teachers in the Glynn County

middle schools co-created and co-taught unique lessons for middle grades

students aimed at increasing their interest and participation in STEM.

Thomas Hippchen (CCGA) and CarolDenis (Jane Macon Middle School):“Fun Math Fridays”: Co-taught a series ofinnovative, discovery learning activities onrates of change and slope concepts as wellas the Pythagorean Theorem using onlineeducational games and technology such asDesmos.

Holly Nance (CCGA) and JenniferBrashear (Risley Middle School) OceanAcidification and “STEM Day”: Co-developed and taught lessons that tied intoan existing unit on global warming.

Isidor Ruderfer (CCGA) and KimberlySapp (Needwood Middle School):“Mythbusting Combustion Concepts”:Let students make conjectures about andtest what happens when a lit candle in abowl of water is covered with a glass jar.

Goals AddressedGoal 1: Increase the number of K-12 students who prepare for and are in-terested in majoring in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) in college.

Goal 3: Prepare and support P-12 STEM teachers in Georgia’s classrooms.

All three of this year’s teams haveindicated a strong desire to continuetheir work on this initiative next yearand the intention to continue theirpartnerships over the long term.

The IdeaPairing faculty with teacher leaders that have recognized expertise in

middle grades STEM pedagogy allows for the development of truly novel

STEM lessons that capitalize on the strengths of both the CCGA faculty and

the lead teachers. Moreover, allowing a select group of faculty to work at

great depth with the teachers and the schools provides faculty, teachers and

students with a richer experience and deepens the connections between the

two communities.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

Dr. Nance is awesome and I have lovedworking with her...Dr. Nance’s strengthswere her strong content knowledge andapproachability...I enjoyed our planningtimes together and feel that the collegehas been opened up to me as a resource tosupport what I want to do in class.

-Jennifer Brashear, 8th Grade ScienceTeacher, Risley MS

Ruderfer brought in not only exceptionalenthusiasm for the project, but specialunderstanding of the common miscon-ceptions that students have as they enterthe college environment and how they canbe dispelled... [I came away with a] newoutlook, innovative ideas, and a flexibilityof thinking when looking at commonlyaccepted science practices. -Kim Sapp, 8thGrade Science Teacher, Needwood MS

[Carol Dennis] gave me great ideas forteaching our learning support students. Iliked seeing the way concepts are taughtand ordered in K-12... You really have tobe a much better educator to be a K-12teacher! -Thomas Hippchen, Lecturer ofMathematics, CCGA

Kim is very insightful. We have a lot offun experimenting with ideas and she hasbecome a real colleague. She helps me seehow the science can really work in theclassroom. -Isidor Ruderfer, Lecturer ofBiology, CCGA

Moving from plan to project. Creating a sustainable implementation planfrom our initial proposal took an entire semester. As such, the pace of imple-mentation was uneven. Additionally, unexpected problems arose that willnecessitate the development of contingency plans for the future.

Structure. Many of the participants actually requested more deadlines and astricter timeline.

Pilot-Year Hiccups. Though participants characterized this year as a “sink

or swim” or “get this figured out” kind of year, we feel that the students,

teachers and CCGA faculty learned a lot and developed deep and productive

collaborations.

Plans for the Future

· Complete faculty and teacher interviews· Decide whether or not to continue existing teams.· Create a plan to involve Glynn Middle School.· Develop our online resource repository.· Promote even richer collaboration and reflection. (Team blogs?)· Create a calendar of expectations and deadlines for participant teams.

· Next steps on expanding the impact of our initiative.