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The Pre-Service Teacher STEM Program (PSTSP) conceived in 1994 by Drs. Roger Hathaway, and Sandra Proctor was funded by the Minority Universities Research and Education Division in the Office of Equal Opportunities (MURED). The basic premise of the program is to provide real training for future grades 4-8 teachers that will develop their skills and confidence in creating new strategies for teaching an integrated, inquiry and national standards-based, STEM curriculum using cutting-edge technology and NASA educational materials. |
In 1995 the first STEM Training Workshop , held in Hampton , Virginia, hosted 300 participants from 26 colleges and universities in 12 states. For the 10th Anniversary, in 2005, the program hosted 700 participants in Alexandria, VA. The Program has now expanded to include 150+ universities from 37 states, and Institutes at 6 Centers and two tribal colleges, where the participants are trained in smaller, more intimate groups, to achieve university STEM credits and teacher certification.
In the fall of 2005 the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) began serving as  NASA’s administrator of the program. The primary objective of the Pre-Service Teacher STEM Program remains fundamentally the same. However, in 2008, under the direction of Dr. Paula Tucker-Hogan, a new emphasis has been placed on including engineering, thus changing the name from the Pre-Service Teacher Program (PSTP) to the Pre-Service Teacher STEM Program (PSTSP). The Program now hosts participants from over 150 colleges and universities in 37 states and 550 Congressional Districts. |
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