Abstract
Informal STEM education (ISE) programs are known to foster heightened student engagement due to leveling the student-teacher hierarchy, free choice, self-directed learning experiences, and hands-on pedagogies. ISE has also been shown to be effective in helping to prepare the K-12 STEM teacher workforce by fostering STEM teacher identity. The COVID-19 pandemic forced most ISE programs to move their activities to virtual formats which changed the ways facilitators provide meaningful informal STEM learning for students, and as such, moving online had implications for how their STEM teacher identity developed. The objective of this study is to examine the role that COVID-19 mandated virtual learning played in the STEM teacher identity development of facilitators in an ISE program which had historically been offered in-person. Using a naturalistic inquiry design, we identified three themes that contextualize the STEM teacher identity development for 5 facilitators participating in online ISE: (1) Navigating Difficulties Engaging Students; (2) Building Bonds; and (3) Perspective Taking. This paper concludes by discussing implications these themes have for informal STEM programs, online ISE educators, and the environments supporting ISE educators going forward in supporting CTE teachers??? STEM teacher identity.
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