Hugo Rossi Lecture Series Presents: Jill Marshall, University of Texas at Austin

The Hugo Rossi Lecture Series, named in honor of the CSME’s founding director, was designed to bridge the College of Science and College of Education by attracting speakers whose scholarly pursuits include K-16 math/science education research. Through engaging in discussion of new ideas in math and science education, we can promote best practices and student success at the University of Utah and within the broader community.

Title: The UTeach Model of STEM Teacher Preparation: Replication and Opportunities for Growth

Bio: Dr. Jill A. Marshall is an associate professor of STEM Education. She studies how people come to understand and engineer the physical world and how teachers can facilitate that process, as well as equity issues in STEM education. She is Associate Director of the UTeach Natural Sciences teacher certification program and Past President of the American Association of Physics Teachers. She received her BS in Physics from Stanford University in 1980 and her PhD in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984. She engaged in space science research for 10 years at Southwest Research Institute before becoming increasingly involved in outreach and education. She held a position focused on physics education research at Utah State University before returning to Texas in 2000. She has served on the Advisory Board for PhysTEC (Physics Teacher Education Coalition) and on the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics.

Abstract: The UTeach model of secondary STEM teacher preparation has been identified as an exemplar by divergent sides of the political and education research spectrum and is currently being replicated at 44 institutions nationwide.  Established in 1997 at the University of Texas at Austin, UTeach currently has over 600 associated faculty members and on the order of 7000 students enrolled, and is approaching 1000 graduates from UT Austin alone. The model brings together collaborators from education, natural sciences, and engineering to provide STEM-based teacher training featuring early and frequent field teaching experiences supported by master classroom teachers and education researchers. UTeach has proven successful in Texas in terms of both teacher retention and teacher quality. Nevertheless, the process of replication has provided many opportunities for reflection and development, beyond the simple growth in numbers.