Creativity and Innovation in STEM Classrooms through Professional Development
Abstract: Creativity and Innovation in STEM classrooms developed a comprehensive teacher professional development model to create a culture of creativity and innovation in STEM classrooms in rural schools. As active members of a professional learning community, twenty-two mathematics, science, and career and technical education (CTE) teachers collaborated with each other in a week-long workshop and explored problem-based learning and resources. Each teacher mentored two students and nurtured them to be excited about STEM careers. Teachers explored Scratch, MakeyMakey, LilyPad Arduino, 3D printing, and probeware and used one or more of these tools to facilitate creativity and inventive thinking. Pretest and posttest data were collected on a variety of variables using the Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes Toward STEM Survey. The results from the surveys and the data collected during in during interactions between teachers and their mentees document ways to nurture creativity.
Presider: Kahoko Matsumoto, Tokai University, Japan