Policy in Support of Pedagogy: Collaboration Among Scientists, Science Educators, and Engineers in Preparing Qualified K-8 STEM Teachers

Abstract

Teachers with knowledge of science and science teach-ing pedagogy are essential to teaching science in K-12 schools. We present collaborative efforts among science and science education faculty members that build a sci-ence teacher program with an overarching objective of training qualified science teachers. Our Foundational Level General Science program goes beyond increasing science content knowledge. Its design fosters a sustained collaboration for faculty in science and education to in-tegrate inquiry-based pedagogy into curricula with the goal of recruiting and retaining STEM teachers. Our ex-perience suggests that certain policies within the higher education infrastructure are necessary to sustain these efforts.