Developing Effective STEM Professional Development Programs

To help the United States stay globally competitive in terms of innovation and invention, the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has become a priority in P-12 education today. As the need for students to become stronger in STEM grows, so does the need for well-qualified STEM teachers who understand what is needed to develop relevant and high-quality STEM programs. Professional development (PD) can offer opportunities for those involved in the teaching of STEM to learn how to effectively integrate various instructional approaches, including "engineering design" into their teaching and learning environments. Professional development is important to STEM education, especially in the areas of technology and engineering. If engineering is to be recognized as an integral part of science, technology, and math education, stakeholders, organizations and/or people directly involved have to share the burden of responsibility for these ideas to become reality. The authors describe a series of PD activities sponsored by the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) in 2005-2006. These activities steered a number of research efforts at various universities including: California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA); University of Wisconsin-Stout; Brigham Young University; and the University of North Carolina A&T. The purpose of these activities was related to the identification of core engineering concepts, the production of logic models of effective PD, and the development of successive engineering design challenges. As a result of the university studies, those who develop STEM PD offered the following recommendations: (1) Provide a Supportive PD Environment; (2) Provide an Exemplar Engineering Design Challenge; (3) Provide Training on Managing Group Projects and Evaluating Student Contributions; (4) Developers of STEM PD Should Consider Standards-Based Pressures that Impact STEM Learning; (5) STEM PD Should Train Teachers How to Develop Their Own Standards-Based, Engineering Design Challenges; and (6) STEM PD Should Train Teachers How to Integrate STEM Concepts into Their Instructional Materials. The authors conclude with a description of recent pushes in the U.S. to infuse engineering design into science, math, and technology education. The preparation of teachers with the ability to develop relevant and high quality STEM programs becomes vital to these efforts. Given that teachers have a direct influence over