This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by designing, developing, implementing, and studying a socio-technological system for group-centered STEM teaching and learning consistent with a nationally recognized pre-service program.The project takes a design-based research approach to creating and studying technologies and materials that support generative teaching and learning in STEM. Sites associated with a nationally recognized and expanding approach to STEM teacher preparation and certification will serve as incubators and testbeds for the project's innovation and development efforts. Computational thinking, including agent-based modeling, and simulation across STEM domains as well as geo-spatial reasoning about personally meaningful learner-collected data will provides an important scientific foundation for the project. This will be achieved by developing a highly-interactive and group-optimized, browser- and cloud-based, device-independent and open-source architecture and by integrating and extending leading computational tools including the NSF-funded NetLogo Web agent-based modeling language and environment. The project will also achieve this outcome by publishing its technology-mediated activities and materials in the public domain and by capturing extensive qualitative and quantitative data on the intensity and nature of use of these technologies and materials. Collectively, the project will foster the growth of educational infrastructures to enable the dissemination and effective adoption of generative teaching and learning in STEM particularly in high school engineering.
Anthony Petrosino is a learning scientist and an associate professor of STEM education and the Elizabeth G. Gibb endowed fellow at The University of Texas at Austin. He was a seven-year member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded VaNTH (a consortium of Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, University of Texas, and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology), ERC, and a principle investigator of a U.S. Department of Education funded PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology) grant. He is currently the co-principle investigator on the NSF-funded UTeach Engineering grant (MSP), Beyond Blackboards grant (ITEST), and Group-Based Cloud Computing for STEM Education (ITEST). His research interests include engineering education and the development of expertise. While at The University of Texas at Austin, he helped establish the UTeach Natural Sciences Teacher Preparation Program. His research articles have appeared in the Journal of Science Education and Technology, The Journal of the Learning Sciences, Mathematical Thinking and Learning, the Journal of Engineering Education, and The American Educational Research Journal.
Co-Director of the Kaput Center for Innovation and Research in STEM Education, Principal Investigator on the NSF-Funded Group-Based Cloud Computing for STEM Education Project, Associate Professor of STEM Education, Founder of the Nationally Recognized UTeach STEM Certification Program.
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