NCE Faculty lead STEM VIPS (Visually Inclusive Primary Sources) Summer Institute

In the first week of August, NCE faculty hosted a four-day, virtual STEM VIPS (Visually Inclusive Primary Sources) Summer Institute for 4th-8th grade STEM teachers from Chicago Public Schools. Throughout the institute, participants explored the importance of visual literacy and the need for community-based STEM projects to empower Culturally Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students. They also developed primary source enhanced STEM curricular units to implement during the upcoming school year. During the institute, all stakeholders worked towards positive outcomes for CLD students aligned with State-approved standards.

The STEM VIPS Summer Institute is part of a Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Regional Grant titled Leveraging Primary Sources to Empower Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students in STEM. Drs. Xiaoning Chen, assistant professor, ESL/Bilingual Education, and Vishodana Thamotharan, assistant professor and director of STEM Initiatives, are the project's co-directors and Drs. Xue Han, associate professor, Elementary and Mathematics Education, and Eun Kyung Ko, associate professor, Science Education, are project consultants. The project's goals are three-fold:

1. There's a nationwide shortage of qualified ESL teachers. Through the project, NCE faculty provide professional development for in-service and pre-service teachers to work effectively with CLD students.

2. The project develops teachers' understanding of how and why teaching with visually dominant primary sources in STEM is effective.

3. The institute aims to enhance CLD students' interest in and create pathways to pursue a career in STEM fields.

For more information on the Leveraging Primary Sources to Empower Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students in STEM project and TPS professional development opportunities, click here.