Prospective Teacher Internships

STARBASE Hanscom AFB began hosting prospective teacher interns in 2014 as part of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program at Bridgewater State University. The NSF funded program at BSU was designed to recruit and prepare science majors to become K-12 teachers in situations requiring effective classroom differentiation skills. The STARBASE Internship experience provided interns with much needed STEM teaching exposure and experience as well as the opportunity to interface with practicing teachers.

In the spring of 2019, STARBASE Hanscom AFB hosted our first interns from the UTeach Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. UTeach is a university-based STEM teacher preparation program, developed in Texas and disseminated nation-wide, that addresses the need for more highly qualified mathematics and science teachers. The STARBASE Internship experience helped UTeach students gain confidence and experience in teaching as well as providing a real world perspective in which to frame their academic learning.

From 2021 through 2024, STARBASE Hanscom AFB participated in a new collaboration with Bridgewater State University through their NSF-funded STEM-EL program, aimed at improving STEM education for elementary students and better preparing pre-service teachers to teach in linguistically heterogeneous classrooms. This innovative program combined coursework in physical science, appropriately tailored pedagogies, and a 20-hour internship at STARBASE. Pre-service teachers gained hands-on experience teaching STEM content — including robotics, computer-aided design, and engineering — to a broad spectrum of elementary students. Co-taught by BSU faculty and STARBASE instructors, the program emphasized student-focused instruction, science and engineering practices, and asset-based approaches to language learning. The internship offered the participants meaningful opportunities to implement STEM strategies, deepen content knowledge, and strengthen their confidence as future educators.

We continue to brainstorm ways to help prospective teachers, practicing teachers and all professionals in the STEM teaching and learning enterprise to pursue best practices to the benefit of all students.

If you are interested in supporting, collaborating or are seeking further information, please feel free to contact us.