Title: Understanding and Building STEM Identity

Presenter: Joanie Funderburk

Description: Do your students hold stereotypical beliefs about who belongs in STEM? In this session, we will work with a free resource to better understand our own STEM identities, then consider how this can inform beliefs about learning. In addition to exploring our own STEM identity, we will consider what research, evidence, and our own experiences tell us about the impact of identity on learning. The session sets the stage for educators to develop a personalized, context-specific plan for acting on these new understandings in ways that support deeper learning for more students.

Key Takeaway: Attendees will learn how educators’ STEM Identities impact the teaching and learning of STEM, and with intentionality, can be used to support the development of students’ own STEM identities.

Joanie Funderburk  is the Strategic Alliance Director for Texas Instruments’ Educational Technology division. In this role, she advocates for high-quality STEM education by elevating the voices of educators in policy decisions at the state and national level. Joanie has nearly 20 years of experience teaching high school math and 7 years supporting middle and high school math teachers at the district level. She spent 5 years working for national non-profit organizations supporting math professional learning all over the country before settling into her role at TI. Joanie enjoys the chance to share what she’s learned in her 33 years in math education as the co-host of Room to Grow: A Math Podcast. Joanie lives in Colorado with her husband and dog and enjoys visiting Seattle and Austin where her two sons live with their wives.