The Federal Government has called for an overhaul of STEM education, saying that we as a nation must increase "opportunities for young Americans to gain strong STEM skills" (Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013, p.1). Economically, these skills expand beyond those that make good doctors, professors, and engineers; there is a world of jobs going unfilled because our students are graduating without the skills or knowledge that such opportunities exist. To increase the future STEM workforce, we first need to increase student awareness of a variety of STEM careers early on (Tai et al., 2006). Career decisions are being made by students as early as middle school (Tai et al., 2006); and very little if any STEM career exploration is occurring before high school. This lack of early exposure to STEM career options means that students are likely making decisions about career choices without accurate information; choosing a path before knowing about all the options. This research is broken into two manuscripts; the first of which examined the impacts of design-based learning and scientific inquiry curriculum treatments with embedded career content on the career interest of fifth-grade students as compared to traditional classroom methods. It found that there is an upward trend in career interest with the use of these curriculum treatments, but it is not a significant change, likely due to the short time period of the unit and/or small n. The second manuscript examined the effect of a design-based learning curriculum treatment implementation for a single unit on Radford City Schools fifth-grade students' STEM attitudes and interest in STEM careers through a pre/post design. The study showed statistically significant growth in overall STEM attitudes and within the science subtest specifically. Career interest in the general field of science showed a significant increase, while a change of interest in specific career areas was not statistically significant. Collectively, this research serves as a foundation for the effectiveness of having career awareness and career exposure opportunities built into active learning instruction, which does not occur currently. Built on secondary principles, but at a level appropriate for elementary students, using active learning opportunities with embedded career connections has the potential to be an effective solution to students' premature exclusion of STEM-related study and work options identified in the literature. Through preliminary exposure to this unique combination at the elementary level, a stronger foundation can be built for both ability and interest in STEM. / Ph. D. / The Federal Government has called for an overhaul of STEM education, saying that we as a nation must increase “opportunities for young Americans to gain strong STEM skills” (Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013, p.1). Economically, these skills expand beyond those that make good doctors, professors, and engineers; there is a world of jobs going unfilled because our students are graduating without the skills or knowledge that such opportunities exist. To increase the future STEM workforce, we first need to increase student awareness of a variety of STEM careers early on (Tai et al., 2006). Career decisions are being made by students as early as middle school (Tai et al., 2006); and very little if any STEM career exploration is occurring before high school. This lack of early exposure to STEM career options means that students are likely making decisions about career choices without accurate information; choosing a path before knowing about all the options. This research is broken into two manuscripts; the first of which examined the impacts of design-based learning and scientific inquiry curriculum treatments with embedded career content on the career interest of fifth-grade students as compared to traditional classroom methods. It found that there is an upward trend in career interest with the use of these curriculum treatments, but it is not a significant change, likely due to the short time period of the unit and/or small n. The second manuscript examined the effect of a design-based learning curriculum treatment implementation for a single unit on Radford City Schools fifth-grade students’ STEM attitudes and interest in STEM careers through a pre/post design. The study showed statistically significant growth in overall STEM attitudes and within the science subtest specifically. Career interest in the general field of science showed a significant increase, while a change of interest in specific career areas was not statistically significant. Collectively, this research serves as a foundation for the effectiveness of having career awareness and career exposure opportunities built into active learning instruction, which does not occur currently. Built on secondary principles, but at a level appropriate for elementary students, using active learning opportunities with embedded career connections has the potential to be an effective solution to students’ premature exclusion of STEM-related study and work options identified in the literature. Through preliminary exposure to this unique combination at the elementary level, a stronger foundation can be built for both ability and interest in STEM.

The research presented in this study investigates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on teacher self-efficacy with delivering design-based learning to elementary students and identifies what resources and support teachers need to administer online or blended learning delivery of design-based learning with elementary students in the current environment. The population was elementary teachers teaching STEM content and this study included a sample of four elementary STEM teachers teaching in rural and suburban communities. Each participating teacher completed the Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey (T-STEM) (Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, 2012) to reveal their overall self-efficacy with delivering STEM content, followed by participating in a semi-structured interview consisting of queries targeting both research questions. This qualitative analysis revealed a temporary decrease in teachers' self-efficacy at the beginning of the shift to a virtual environment. A lack of student access to resources at home, the teachers' lack of control and support for the student in a synchronous manner, and a change in STEM education as a priority were revealed as contributors to this temporary decrease in the teachers' self-efficacy. To remediate this, teachers reported condensing activities and the Engineering Design Process to accommodate the virtual environment for a traditionally hands-on instructional strategy. Teachers cited fellow educator support, previous coursework, additional time, and access to teacher resources as resources and support that would be beneficial in the current environment. / Doctor of Philosophy / The research presented in this study investigates the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on teacher self-efficacy, or confidence, in using an instructional approach to STEM education with elementary students and identifies what resources and support teachers need to use this instructional strategy online or in blended learning settings, a combination of both online and in-person education. The instructional strategy, design-based learning, allows students to use design-thinking to apply the knowledge they are learning to a construct (Doppelt et al., 2008). This study included a sample of four elementary STEM teachers teaching in rural and suburban communities. Each participating teacher completed the Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey (T-STEM) (Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, 2012) to reveal their overall self-efficacy with delivering STEM content, followed by participating in an interview. Prominent topics, or themes, revealed from the interviews revealed a temporary decrease in the teachers' self-efficacy at the beginning of the shift to a virtual environment at the beginning of the global pandemic. A lack of student access to resources at home, the teachers' lack of control and support for the student in a real-time manner, and a change in STEM education as a priority were revealed as contributors to this temporary decrease in the teachers' self-efficacy. To address this, the teachers reported condensing activities and the Engineering Design Process to accommodate the virtual environment for a traditionally hands-on instructional strategy. Teachers cited fellow educator support, previous coursework, additional time, and access to teacher resources as resources and support that would be beneficial in the current education system.

本研究探討設計導向的知識翻新學習對師培生的學習有何影響，包括探討其學習結果與學習歷程，同時本研究也分析各學習分組間的差異。研究對象為修習教學媒體與操作課程之44位師培生，以小組為單位進行課程，每組4至5人，共分為10組，採個案研究法。 資料來源包括：(1)師培生三次教案設計；(2)師培生三次教案設計之組內討論；(3)師培生三次教案設計後同儕回饋。資料分析方式說明如下：其一、將三次教案設計根據改編的教案評量表進行教案品質評分，透過相依樣本無母數檢定，比較其成果是否有所改變。其二、根據Mishra和Koehler（2006）所提出之七項教學知識架構，將三次基於教案設計的小組討論及同儕回饋進行編碼，以了解各組想法及回饋中所包含的教學知識有何改變；並以想法類別編碼分析各組師培生討論之想法有何差異。其三、利用集群分析各學習小組，比較不同集群之間學習成果與學習歷程之異同，並藉由質性分析探討各小組如何討論及設計教案，並剖析差異原因。 主要研究結果如下：(1)師培生整體教案設計品質提升，其中又在教學創新及創意表現向度（Z= 2.87，p < .01）與教學架構向度（Z=2.55，p < .05）上有顯著成長。(2)在各組教案設計討論過程中，發現包含一項教學知識的想法數量有顯著減少趨勢（Z=-2.81，P<.01）；在各組收到的回饋中也發現，回饋包含兩項教學知識者於期末則有明顯成長趨勢（Z= 2.19，p < .05）。(3)利用集群分析將各組師培生教案設計所討論的想法進行分類，結果得到兩大集群，其一在認知及後設認知類型想法中產出較多，命名為想法高產出組；另一群則相反，命名為想法低產出組。此外研究還發現，想法高產出組在教案設計之創新及創意面向（t=2.33，p<.05）、教學媒體及科技面向（t=2.80，p<.05）顯著高於低想法產出組，也較低產出組能產出更多認知及後設認知類型討論想法。 綜上述而言，本研究發現設計導向的知識翻新學習歷程有助於師培生教學媒體教案設計之翻新，並提升師培生在討論及回饋中融合運用教學知識之能力。此外亦發現，能提出較多高階類型想法組別，其教案設計之創新程度、科技使用品質及給予他組回饋的表現上，相較之下也較佳。本研究建議教師在教學上應同時兼顧師培生討論數量及品質，鼓勵學生不斷提升討論的想法層次，並適時介入低產出組學生討論之中，協助學生不斷改進其教案設計的想法，以提升其教案設計所需的相關教學知識。 / The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of design-based knowledge building on pre-service teachers’ teaching knowledge. This research adopted a case study design. Participants were 44 undergraduate pre-service teachers who engaged in a course pertaining to the design of instructional media. They were divided into 10 learning groups. Data sources included: (1) pre-service teachers’ design of three lesson plans; (2) pre-service teachers’ discussion within groups; and (3) peer feedback after presentation of each group’s lesson plan. The process of data analysis is as follows: First, lesson plans were assessed by an evaluation form, and then analyzed by using nonparametric tests to see if there was any change in the design of lesson plans. Second, the three discussion and peer-feedback activities within each group were analyzed by open coding using two different coding schemes: “Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge—TPACK” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), and quality of ideas. Third, using cluster analysis to divide 10 groups into different clusters, this study further compared students’ learning processes and outcomes between groups. The findings were as follows: (1) It was found that the design quality of lesson plans were enhanced, especially in terms of the innovative and creative teaching performance dimension (Z = 2.87, p <.01) and the design framework dimension (Z = 2.55, p <.05); (2) In the course of group discussion, teaching ideas that contained only one type of teaching knowledge (e.g., content knowledge) had decreased significantly (Z=-2.81，P<.01). Teaching feedback (received from other groups) regarding two types of teaching knowledge (e.g., pedagogical content knowledge) increased significantly (Z= 2.19，p < .05). (3) Using cluster analysis, this study classified 10 groups into 2 clusters based on groups’ discussion about teaching ideas. One cluster outperformed in both cognitive and meta-cognitive types of teaching ideas was named high-productive cluster; the other cluster was named less-productive cluster. High-productive cluster was superior to low-productive cluster in terms of the “Innovative and Creative Teaching” and “Instructional Media and Technology Use” dimensions for lesson plans, and in terms of the quality of feedback they provided to their peer groups. The main findings were as follows: (1) Design-based knowledge building helps pre-service teachers’ to design more innovatively their lesson plans and to enhance their teaching knowledge; (2) It was found that the groups who could work more creatively with ideas could also produce more innovative lesson plans, and were also more likely to give away quality feedback to other peer groups. Based on the findings, it is suggested that teachers should not just pay attention to the quantity of discussion posts, but also the quality of idea discussed. It is also important to encourage student to work innovatively and collaboratively with ideas during discussion. Teachers should also try to intervene and help provide necessary scaffolds to the low-productive groups so as to encourage them to continuously improve their teaching ideas.