Student-Teacher Becomes the Teacher-Student: Educator Preparation for Post-Secondary Students to Enrich High School Student STEM Learning in the Discovery Educational Initiative

Secondary school curricula in Canada for subjects like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) often focus on surface-level learning. While frequently believed to be a precursor for later complex and in-depth studies, such approaches to teaching and learning fail to adequately prepare students for life outside of the classroom, including for future studies in their field of choice. In response to demands for STEM programming that inspires critical thought over rote standardizable knowledge, in 2016, Discovery was created. An interdisciplinary program operated out of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, Discovery symbolizes a participatory partnership between the University of Toronto and local secondary schools to support inquiry-based learning for entire classrooms of high school students on a longitudinal basis. Discovery Instructors—consisting of multilevel post-secondary students—work alongside secondary school educators to devise problem-based projects that address key Ontario curriculum targets. Over the course of a semester, high school students are guided by university Instructors to engage in collaborative projects in biology, chemistry, and physics to expand their learning portfolios beyond the confines of a traditional classroom. However, while Discovery seeks to diversify learning for all involved, educator development for Discovery Instructors has remained largely implicit. In this study, we will introduce a teaching development course into Discovery’s Instructor preparation. Within a blended online learning environment across seven weekly modules, Instructor assessment will consist directly of discussion boards containing content- and reflection-based prompts using holistic rubrics and indirectly via mentored students’ performance. A pilot program is currently underway with a sample of enrolled Instructors with data to be collected as the program progresses.