Interesting Science and Mathematics Graduate Students in Secondary Teaching

Abstract

State and national initiatives attempt to increase the quantity and quality of secondary mathematics and science teachers. Research suggests that if one could appeal to something inside of people or about the process of teaching and learning itself, then one might draw current mathematics and science graduate students into secondary teaching. This study placed eight mathematics and science graduate students in secondary schools for ten hours a week. Pre‐ and post‐measures of their interest level in becoming secondary teachers were made. Overall, graduate students decreased in their desire to become secondary teachers. The main reasons were (1) fellows wanted to work with higher‐level mathematics and science; (2) fellows felt students were not behaved and unmotivated; (3) fellows did not view being a teacher as a career, but only as a job; and (4) fellows felt school systems had to do too many things that fellows did not want to do.