In 2015, the Department of Curriculum & Instruction (CUIN) Ph.D. in Urban Education was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.  In 2012, teachHOUSTON was awarded a 5-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Noyce Scholarship Grant for nearly $1 million dollars. These two innovative programs housed in the College of Education (COE) are now working together to advance teaching and learning.

Department of Curriculum & Instruction (CUIN) professor Cheryl Craig

The CUIN Ph.D. in Urban Education prepares doctoral students for research-oriented careers and provides them with opportunities to inquire into, engage with, and respond to the urban community. Three interrelated themes are teacher education, teacher induction and teacher attrition.

teachHOUSTON clinical associate professor, Paige Evans

The teachHouston NSF Noyce Scholarship Grant, Recruitment, Preparation and Retention of STEM Students as High School Teachers provides special professional development activities to undergraduate students who are seeking high school teaching certificates.   The Principal Investigator of the grant is University of Houston (UH) Department of Physics associate professor, Donna Stokes. The Co-Principal Investigators are former Department of Chemistry instructional professor and undergraduate chair, Simon Bott and teachHOUSTON clinical associate professor, Paige Evans.

Some of the Noyce grant’s benefits are: seamless school-university interactions, quality mentoring and supervision, as well as stimulating courses such as a Physics as Inquiry course developed and taught by Evans. CUIN professor Cheryl Craig, an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellow serves as the project evaluator. 

The two programs met face-to-face, with Craig and Evans being the glue that brought the experiences of the two groups of students, one graduate and the other mostly undergraduate, together. Here is where the two innovations became intertwined.

With the assistance of CUIN Ph.D. student, Jing Li, Craig matched one of the Ph.D. students enrolled in her advanced research methods course with two of Evans’ teachHOUSTON students.  Interviews were organized between the paired students, which subsequently were analyzed and synthesized.

Next, Evans’ panel of students who successfully presented at the NSF Noyce Conference in San Diego, California, returned to UH where they presented their work to Craig’s advanced research methods class and participated in a focus group session. This interface served both groups of students’ academic requirements; undergraduate students need to present their work at their home institution to fulfill their NOYCE obligations and the graduate students need to plan for, participate in, and analyze focus group interactions as part of their advanced research coursework.

“I have always involved my own doctoral students in my research projects,” observed Craig.  “This time around, though, I included every enrolled Ph.D. student in my class because I wanted to enhance their research experiences.”

Craig added, “It was a leap of faith on my part, one that turned out exceedingly well… Both groups of students rose to the challenge.”

 “One of Dr. Evans’ students said—and the others agreed—that Dr. Evans helps each of them to be a 'better me'—a better teacher,” remarked Li.  “Dr. Evans face lit up when she heard that.  I think what the teachHouston student contributed was very profound.”   

“Having the opportunity to present and interact with Dr. Craig’s doctoral students was an amazing experience for our Noyce Scholars,” said Evans.  “I believe this will have a lasting impact on their professional growth”. 

Craig concluded, “An unexpected side effect is that the undergraduate and graduate students, who previously did not know one another, acknowledge and converse with one another when they meet in the elevator and on the 3^rd floor. It’s a wonderful sight to see.”