The purpose of the study aimed at gaining a better understanding of how the intended Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum differs from the enacted curricula and what factors impact this. This understanding is important to make the professional development program more meaningful to the immediate needs of the teacher in the classroom. Identifying the factors that contribute to any emerging differences between the curricula helped fill the gap in research on teacher knowledge and beliefs about the use of science and mathematics content in the PLTW classroom. PLTW is an innovative hands-on pre-engineering curriculum designed for K-12 students based on project-based and problem-based learning. It tries to combine math and science principles to present engineering concepts to students in a way that tries to keep up with the rapid changes associated with technology in their everyday world. Multiple case sampling was used to select four teachers based on their years of teaching experience as well as background in science and math. They were interviewed about their knowledge and beliefs about project and problem-based learning. In addition, non-participant observations and teacher beliefs questionnaires were used to triangulate the data for more credible results. A fidelity of implementation rubric was also used to determine how well the teachers were implementing the curriculum. Findings of the study show that there were differences in the way teachers chose to enact the curriculum that were heavily influenced by the curriculum materials, the professional development training and their own personal beliefs about how the curriculum should be enacted. A conceptual model is developed that aims at improving the professional development experiences for the teachers that considers their beliefs.

We will share strategies for paper and digital interactive notebooks to deepen student thinking and promote learning through hands-on investigations that meet the NGSS.

This qualitative study examined how university students learn to engage in the practices of scientific inquiry via research apprenticeships and how such experiences prepare them to be STEM literate. Surveys and interviews addressed two primary research questions: 1. What is the nature of interaction between student participant and faculty mentor? Subsidiary question: What is the role of technology in the mentoring relationship? 2. How do students and faculty describe the development of STEM literacies in the undergraduate research experience? Subsidiary question: How does the mentoring process contribute to the development of STEM literacies? Results demonstrated the importance of learning by engaging in authentic activity under the guidance of mentor experts, the undergraduate research experience helps enable acquisition of STEM literacies but mere participation in research experiences does not always lead to high quality learning, mentoring relationships are not all the same, and the use of technology in undergraduate research experiences varies. Overall the study concludes that students find undergraduate research experiences beneficial as compared to other experiences. Research afforded them the opportunity to understand how research can be applied and gain knowledge that they would not have gained in the classroom.