PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 11, 2023) — The National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce) has awarded a grant of $1.2 million for five years to support a project at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) called “Building a Community of Mathematics and Science Teachers through the Application of Social Cognitive Career Theory.”
“There is a national shortage of diverse mathematics and science teachers,” said the project’s Principal Investigator (PI) Camille Burnett, Ph.D., assistant professor of mathematics education in PVAMU’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction and the associate director of the recently funded PVU Teach Program. “This project will increase the number of such teachers produced by PVAMU through financial support and a rigorous preparation program.”
Camille Burnett, Ph.D.
The five-year project will effectively prepare 24 racially and ethnically diverse students to be mathematics and science teachers through focusing on three key objectives – recruiting students from early college high schools and from within the PVAMU mathematics and science departments to participate in a bridge-to-teaching program, preparing these students to be future teachers by utilizing the PVU Teach model (while also facilitating unique project activities motivated by social cognitive career theory), and ensuring that the newly certified teachers are supported during their first year of teaching through a community of practice.
“This Noyce project and grant reinforce PVAMU’s legacy of producing exceptional educators who are positively impacting diverse populations and society as a whole,” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA.
By contributing to an in-depth understanding of research- and evidence-based STEM teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention strategies in terms of students’ self-efficacy, STEM identity, and interest in STEM teaching, this project will help bolster the STEM workforce and address the shortage of diverse mathematics and science teachers in Texas and nationally.
Collaborating with Dr. Burnett are Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs) Laurette Foster, Ed.D., PVAMU professor in the Department of Mathematics; Harriette Howard-Lee Block, Ph.D., head of PVAMU’s Biology Department; Beverly Sande, Ph.D., PVAMU assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; and Beverly King Miller, Ph.D., PVAMU assistant professor of science education. PVAMU’s team of researchers will also be partnering with the Houston Independent School District (ISD), Royal ISD, Sheldon ISD, and Spring ISD.
“The team anticipates the project’s long-term effects, where our future mathematics and science teachers will serve as role models and positively affect students in the K-12 classrooms, encouraging them to pursue STEM professions,” Dr. Burnett said.
By Leigh Badrigian