Exploring Teacher Perspectives of STEM Outreach Sessions

Authors

Jennifer M. Jakobi, University of British Columbia
Rebecca McCullough, University of British Columbia
Sabre Cherkowski, University of British Columbia
Haizley Trevor-Smith, University of British ColumbiaFollow

Keywords

Teacher Wellbeing, STEM education, STEM outreach

Abstract

Teachers have a responsibility to create and foster engaging learning environments which encourage underrepresented persons in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Outreach programs have been shown to increase STEM engagement of students. We use a positive psychology lens to investigate STEM outreach and teacher wellbeing. This exploratory study uses a survey and focus group to assess how a STEM outreach program can create teacher feelings of support, confidence, and enjoyment. Results demonstrate that most teachers felt more confident in teaching STEM following the STEM-mentor facilitated outreach sessions. The positive benefits to teacher wellbeing from outreach program mentorship, is discussed.

DOI

10.15760/nwjte.2024.19.2.3

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42618

Recommended Citation

Jakobi, Jennifer M.; McCullough, Rebecca; Cherkowski, Sabre; and Trevor-Smith, Haizley (2024) "Exploring Teacher Perspectives of STEM Outreach Sessions," Northwest Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 19 : Iss. 2 , Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15760/nwjte.2024.19.2.3