The effects of the SMTEI are evaluated at several levels. Teachers who participate are asked to assess and be assessed - as follows. Times, place, dates will be announced in the Calendar issued to participants in May of 2003.
| Assessment of Teachers' Knowledge |
- Pre-Test. After acceptance into the program and placement with a mentor, each teacher will be given a short diagnostic examination of the general subject area of their research. The results will not be made available to anyone other than the SMTEI personnel, the teacher, and the teacher's mentor. This exam will be used to help identify content areas in need of review during the research experience, and to compare to the Post-Test to determine changes in teacher's content knowledge.
- Post-Test. At the end of the summer experience, teachers will be again tested over the same material. As for the Pre-Test, the results will not be made available to anyone other than the SMTEI personnel, the teacher, and the teacher's mentor.
- Performance on either the Pre- or Post-Test has no affect on placement, successful completion, or future participation in the SMTEI program.
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| Assessment of Teachers' Attitudes |
- The Journal. Participating teachers will be provided a journal and a list of minimal daily entries that they will make during their summer experience. These journals will remain with the SMTEI after the summer experience (although teachers will be allowed to make copies for their personal use).
- Thought Inventories will be taken at each weekly meeting.
- Focus group sessions will occur twice, once in the middle and once at the end of the 8 week period.
- The Program Evaluation Form. At the end of the summer experience, teachers will complete a program evaluation form. This typically takes about 15 minutes.
- The One-Year Meeting. Each June, the SMTEI will hold a meeting for past teacher participants. The purpose of this meeting is for the teachers to share their post-SMTEI experiences with each other and to allow evaluation of the long-term effects of the SMTEI program.
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| Assessment of Teachers' Students' Attitudes |
Student Testing . Teacher-participants will be required to assess their own students' attitudes toward science late in spring after they have been accepted into the program - before they participate. This pre-survey of student attitudes is a condition of receiving the first stipend check. The teacher-participants will then similarly assess their following year's class at the same time late in the spring of 2003.
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