The STEM SEALs Project is looking for innovative and enthusiastic educators who want to advance STEM awareness and skills in area middle school students. If you have an interest to be part of our TEAM, please fill out the interest survey.

Opportunities for Teachers

The STEM SEALs research project provides several opportunities for middle school teachers in the six-county service area (Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee, and Taylor) to participate. Teachers are needed in three areas of the STEM SEALS project: Design Team, Review Team, and Summer Institute Team. All participation is voluntary and includes compensation. Each level of participation allows teachers to gain valuable experiences working with field experts, peers, or students to practice STEM design challenges, learn exciting new ways to utilize technology, explore ideas to incorporate STEM disciplines and innovations more thoroughly, participate in hands-on experiences in coding and robotics, share best practices, make collaborative connections, and have some FUN along the way!

Design Team:

The Design Team is a critical part of the STEM SEALs project. As part of the Design Team, teachers will provide valuable input to ensure the learning modules are age appropriate, engaging, align and incorporate content standards, utilize student’s prior knowledge and skills, and incorporate STEM and pedagogical best practices. They will get a hands-on experience with the design prototype activities and provide useful feedback and reflection to the STEM SEALS development team. Using this input, the development team will adapt the prototypes as needed before they are field tested with a broader Review Team of teachers and students. Three Design Team Workshops took place in the Fall of 2021.

Review Team:

The Review Team will include several phases and is an important aspect of the STEM SEALs project. Teachers participating in the review will not only provide invaluable insight to the development team on the design modules but will also be exposed to innovative ways to apply STEM in their classrooms. The first phase will involve teachers to review individual activities on district school campuses. This limited review will allow developers to gain evaluative feedback on key aspects of the learning modules for further adaptation and revisions. A more comprehensive review will take place in the second phase on the NFC campus, where teachers will have the opportunity to experience a more thorough day long review of the design challenges by type (SEA, AIR, or LAND). The third phase of review will take place simultaneously with the Summer Institute, where teachers will review the completed modules and provide valuable reflection not only on the development of the physical modules but on the implementation of the modules with the students. The next Review Process will begin in the Spring of 2022.

Summer Institute:

The Summer Institute will provide a couple of opportunities for teachers to participate as either a Reviewing Team member or as a camp facilitator. Both experiences will allow teachers to get first-hand exposure to the completed Design Challenges with student involvement. The week-long STEM camp will take place on the North Florida Campus.