About The job embedded education project
Despite efforts to engage teachers in learning and teaching around CT concepts, they often report feeling that they do not have enough competence or time to engage students in STEM learning around computing (Tofel-Grehl & Searle, 2019). Dr. Tofel-Grehl, director of the Chaos Learning Lab, is the recipient of the presigeous National Science Foundation Career grant to explore this problem. The project, entitled Job Embedded Education on Computational Thinking for Rural STEM Teachers (JEE) will develop and validate a system of professional development to more effectively and sustainably engage highly ruralized teachers in pedagogy integrating STEM and computing.
The JEE model attempts to meet teachers where they are—in terms of both their prior knowledge and their geography—by providing high levels of support to participants while they are working with their own students in their own classrooms. The PD model uses fading scaffolds to help teachers engage the fundamentals of computing and CT as part of core content during their teaching of summer school classes. It also engages teachers in an apprenticeship model of PD to build their computing pedagogical content knowledge and practices.
The JEE model attempts to meet teachers where they are—in terms of both their prior knowledge and their geography—by providing high levels of support to participants while they are working with their own students in their own classrooms. The PD model uses fading scaffolds to help teachers engage the fundamentals of computing and CT as part of core content during their teaching of summer school classes. It also engages teachers in an apprenticeship model of PD to build their computing pedagogical content knowledge and practices.