Indiana STEM Teachers’ Perceptions of the Shift from In-Person to Virtual Training during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought uncertainty to Indiana teachers in 2020. School closings caused disruptions to teachers’ classroom settings, ongoing training, and social and mental well-being (Pozo-Rico et al., 2020). Indiana GEAR UP’s commitment to teacher professional development for STEM educators led to a shift from their in-person summer teacher training sessions to virtual, just months after the school shutdowns in spring 2020. Participant evaluations showed that teachers appreciated the virtual training options and were able to learn new strategies to apply to their new virtual learning spaces. The online training sessions also had drawbacks. This research brief describes recommendations to schools offering virtual training to support ongoing STEM teacher development.