PERC 2020 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | All things Get the Facts Out: Perceptions, emotionally compelling messages, and data mining |
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| Abstract: | The Get the Facts Out (GFO) project is a joint effort between four national societies and education researchers to change the conversation around grade 7-12 physics, chemistry, and math teaching careers. To develop recruitment materials and better understand best practices around recruiting math and science teachers, GFO has a rigorous research arm. This includes the study of both students', and faculty's perceptions of the teaching profession including development of instruments to measure these. We also have found it necessary to embark on a study of emotionally engaging ways to share facts about the profession as well as engaging in extensive data mining to assist with faculty buy in and reduction of energy barriers for sharing the facts. Finally, to measure the effectiveness of the project, we have an aggressive longitudinal data collection design that annually measures perceptions in ~60 departments. This work is supported by NSF DUE-1821710 & 1821462. |
| Abstract Type: | Talk Symposium |
| Session Time: | Parallel Sessions Cluster III |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Brian Pyper Brigham Young University - Idaho Rexburg, ID 83460 Phone: 208-496-7744 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Savannah L. Logan, Colorado School of Mines Wendy K. Adams, Colorado School of Mines Drew Isola, American Association of Physics Teachers |
Symposium Specific Information | |
| Moderator: | Brian Pyper |
| Presentation 1 Title: | Research-based, User-tested Materials for Recruiting STEM Teachers |
| Presentation 1 Authors: | Savannah L. Logan, Jared B. Breakall, Wendy K. Adams |
| Presentation 1 Abstract: | There is a serious shortage of secondary science and math teachers across the United States. Part of this shortage can be attributed to a lack of research-based recruitment materials. To this end, we have developed written and visual materials for recruiting future STEM teachers as part of the Get the Facts Out (GFO) project. We have tested and refined our materials through faculty and student focus groups at several demographically and geographically diverse US universities over the last two years. Recently, we collected large-scale data via a national online survey that will be shared here for the first time. Our findings provide insights into optimal recruitment strategies, and we will share our unique considerations for different locations, demographics, and target audiences. We will also discuss our testing and refinement strategies through interactive activities. This project is supported by NSF DUE-1821710. |
| Presentation 2 Title: | Faculty perceive they are more supportive than their perceptions may suggest... |
| Presentation 2 Authors: | Wendy K. Adams, Jared B. Breakall, Savannah L. Logan, Richard Pearson III, Brian Pyper |
| Presentation 2 Abstract: | To measure the impact of the Get the Facts Out project over time, we have engaged in a 5-year longitudinal study of both faculty and student perceptions of the teaching profession. We are collecting large scale quantitative data via survey instruments from ~60 physics, chemistry and math departments across the U.S. as well as visiting six of these universities so that we may collect qualitative data to better inform the survey data. In this presentation we will share the baseline data which shows a striking difference in perceptions between students who want to teach and those who do not. Additionally, this data reveals inconsistencies in faculty perceptions of teachers and their careers with faculty perceptions of students and how they advise them. Finally, insights from our site visits will be shared. This project is supported by NSF DUE-1821710. |
| Presentation 3 Title: | Survey development and analysis for Getting the Facts Out |
| Presentation 3 Authors: | Brian Pyper, Jared B. Breakall, Savannah L. Logan, Richard L. Pearson III, Wendy K. Adams |
| Presentation 3 Abstract: | Following the development of the PTaP - Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession – survey, which measures students' interest in and views of teaching as a career, we developed the PTaP.HE (p-taffy) - Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession for Higher Education - which measures university faculty's perceptions of teaching as a profession. As part of the development and validation of the PTaP.HE instrument we have conducted faculty interviews, collected large-scale data from over 40 institutions, and conducted statistical analyses including a factor analysis. Here we will share the outcomes of the factor analysis, a scoring strategy, and preliminary results. We will also discuss the potential impact of faculty perceptions of the teaching profession on our future science and math teacher workforce. This work is part of the Get the Facts Out project which is supported by NSF DUE-1821710 |
| Presentation 4 Title: | Data mining: Helping faculty share an accurate picture of the teaching profession in their region |
| Presentation 4 Authors: | Drew Isola, Allison M. Costley, Dawson Lang, Jared B. Breakall and Wendy K. Adams |
| Presentation 4 Abstract: | A critical component of the Get the Facts Out Theory of Change are the faculty who become local champions and take it upon themselves to get the facts out about the teaching profession. To be successful, these faculty must customize the GFO resources with local teacher salaries and retirement information. Workshops and detailed instructions on the GFO website have been provided; however, we have found that the expertise and time required to collect this data and to customize the resources is posing an unacceptable energy barrier. In addition, we have found that national salary data is unreliable to the point that we are uncomfortable making claims about the profession using this data. To solve both of these problems, we have embarked on a data collection effort and developed a metric for comparing tangible teacher benefits to the local economy. This project is supported by NSF DUE-1821710 & 1821462. |
