This paper discusses the need for qualified teachers in specific areas, examining factors that motivate students to choose to teach (e.g., desire to work with people, value to society, and family influence). The Partnership for Excellence in Teacher Education promotes reform in science and mathematics teaching and learning in regard to preparing science and mathematics teachers. One of its goals is to recruit and retain promising students into teaching, particularly minority students. Researchers investigated how undergraduate content majors viewed teaching as a profession, studying undergraduate students from various mathematics and science areas who were enrolled in a summer course to expose them to the possibilities of teaching as a career. Participants read and discussed information on teaching and taught summer school students enrolled in a prefreshman engineering program. Participants kept journals and, at the end of the course, answered questions about their educational experience and their feelings about teaching. Respondents reported that the summer experience was positive. They learned that teaching was challenging but rewarding. Nearly all participants reported a strong desire to teach. They were concerned about student classroom behavior and motivation. Overall, they learned to examine and reflect upon teaching and issues of instruction. (Contains 33 references.) (SM)