Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program RESS Project: Empowering STEM Educators through Robotics and Automation

About This Grant

The project aims to serve the national need of equipping STEM educators with innovative teaching strategies and hands-on research experiences. This project focuses on empowering pre-service and in-service teachers from high-need school districts in the Washington, D.C. metro area through training in robotics and automation. By integrating robotics and automation into K-12 curricula, the program inspires students from all communities to pursue STEM careers, addressing systemic disparities. The five-year curriculum modules, supported by virtual and physical labs, are accessible through the Howard Outreach Program website, enabling nationwide replication and scalability. This project at Howard University collaborates with high-need school districts and the industry partner Quanser to provide participants with resources, mentorship, and research opportunities. Goals include training 60 educators over five years, integrating Guided Inquiry-Based Learning (GIBL) into classroom practices, and developing replicable educational models. The curriculum emphasizes foundational robotics and automation concepts, supported by rigorous evaluation methods to measure changes in teaching efficacy, STEM self-efficacy, and classroom implementation. Through its focus on teacher development, the project has the potential to significantly advance STEM education and contribute to a technologically proficient workforce. This Research Experience in STEM Settings (RESS) project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.