2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Background: This paper presents an example of the progress made in a five-year NSF IUSE-funded project on repairing the reputation of the teaching profession to address teacher shortages in STEM disciplines. [PROGRAM] does research on resources for and perceptions of the teaching profession through studies on the effectiveness of resources and analyses of student and faculty data from over 50 US institutions. [PROGRAM] is a partnership between [GROUP 1], [GROUP 2], [GROUP 3] and [GROUP 4] led by [INSTITUTION]. This paper focuses on an undergraduate student-facing presentation used for teacher recruitment. The goals of this paper are to disseminate knowledge and resources to ASEE members and to reach and empower more faculty to feel knowledgeable and able to share information about the teaching profession with students.

Methods/Assessment: Foundational research from the development and validation of the [SURVEY NAME] survey identified that common misconceptions about the teaching profession were preventing many students from considering teaching as a career path. Data on the profession, including information on retirement systems, survey data on job satisfaction, and salary data, formed the basis for the student-facing presentation. In 2021 and 2022, [PROGRAM] conducted further effectiveness studies on the presentation in a first-year chemistry course at [INSTITUTION] using pre/post [SURVEY NAME] surveys with a control (2021 n=103; 2022 n=163) and treatment group (2021 n=210; 2022 n=380). The treatment group took pre/post-tests immediately before and after viewing the presentation; they also took a delayed post-test approximately two months later. For each year, we ran paired t-tests in R on pre/post, post/delayed, and pre/delayed data sets for both groups. Results here reflect 2021 survey responses; data analysis for 2022 responses is ongoing.

Selected Outcomes: The post-test and delayed post-test results for the treatment group showed that many student perceptions of the teaching profession became significantly more positive (pre/post p<0.05) and remained more positive throughout the semester (pre/delayed and post/delayed p<0.05), regardless of their response to the statement, “I want to become a Grade 7-12 teacher.” From analyses of that statement, 20% of students in the treatment group who were not interested in becoming a grade 7-12 math or science teacher changed their minds after one presentation.

Implications: There is a shortage of middle and high school teachers in STEM disciplines. [PROGRAM] aims to distribute facts and data through resources, like the student-facing presentation, to repair the reputation of the teaching profession. To date, university faculty have shared the presentation with over 6,500 students from across the US. Results from [SURVEY NAME] indicate that using [PROGRAM] resources can increase student interest in and perceptions of grade 7-12 teaching as a career. The effectiveness study on the student-facing presentation is currently being repeated in 2023. Future work includes growing the network of faculty who share these resources to promote more students to join the profession and inspire young minds.