scholarly journals An Engineering Research Experience For Teachers: Implementation And Assessment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anant Kukreti ◽  
Patricia McNerney ◽  
Suzanne Soled ◽  
Kelly Obarski ◽  
Mingming Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Experience ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Research Experience For Teachers

Development of a Multidisciplinary Engineering Research Program for Middle/High School Teachers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Li ◽  
Joshua Kim ◽  
Drew Kim ◽  
Adam Alster ◽  
Marianne Livezey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Stem Education ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Summer Program ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Research Experience For Teachers ◽  
K 12

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in K-12 schools is critical to inspire young students and prepare them for future college coursework and careers in science and engineering. An effective mechanism for creating and sustaining successful STEM education is to train well-qualified K-12 teachers with a positive attitude and deep knowledge skills in STEM fields. Supported by the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Teachers program (NSF RET), the RET Site at Michigan State University (MSU) aims to build a multidisciplinary engineering research program for middle and high school teachers and their students, within a coherent theme of “Smart Sensors and Sensing Systems”. This paper presents an introduction to the MSU’s Site program and highlights the learning outcomes and achievements of the RET participants. The MSU Site has four main components including authentic research experience for teachers during an intensive summer program; curriculum development by integrating engineering design units into teachers’ courses; professional skill development through seminars, facility tours, and field trips; and finally classroom implementation of the developed curricula. Throughout the 6-week summer program, teacher participants were given the opportunity to work closely with graduate students and engineering professors on current research projects in university laboratories. The teachers’ research activities culminated with a final poster report and oral presentation during a symposium at the end of the summer program. Follow-up classroom visits helped to build a strong connection between local middle/high schools and MSU to smooth students’ transitions to college. Since 2016, the Site has graduated 21 middle and high school teachers from the greater Lansing-Detroit area that serve large populations of minority and female students. These RET teachers have produced over 24 sets of curriculum plans and classroom activities, 3 sets of which have been published by an online digital library, TeachEngineering.org (TE), and 8 sets of which have been accepted by TE. Finally, from the findings of the RET Site, the paper discusses best practices and recommendations for incorporating teachers into a university laboratory setting.

Summer Research and Collaborative Professional Development Experience for NSF RET Teachers in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahsan Mian ◽  
Margaret Pinnell ◽  
Leanne Petry ◽  
Raghavan Srinivasan ◽  
Suzanne Franco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Field Trips ◽  
Advanced Manufacturing ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Regional Universities ◽  
National Science Foundation Research ◽  
Research Experience For Teachers ◽  
K 12

The current collaborative National Science Foundation Research Experience for Teachers (NSF-RET) site placed seventeen in-service and pre-service teachers with research mentors at one of the three regional universities WSU, CSU, and UD to work on engineering research projects. These research projects were chosen in such a way so that they were relevant to regional strengths in advanced manufacturing and materials. In addition to research, the RET teachers participated in various professional development (PD) activities such as “boot camp” facilitated by ASM Materials Education Foundation prior to the start of their research experience, field trips, seminars given by guest speakers and group work that produced K-12 curriculum related to the teams’ research experience. The teacher groups also presented the developed STEM curriculum and the final laboratory project results, and provided regular guided reflections regarding their efforts during the six-week program. This paper presents a brief overview of the collaborative RET project and details the achievement during the first project year. Emphasis is given to the collaborative PD activities of all seventeen teachers and the research projects performed by the two WSU RET groups comprised of four in-service and two pre-service teachers.

scholarly journals Rutgers University Research Experience For Teachers In Engineering: Preliminary Findings

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Evelyn H. Laffey ◽  
Kimberly Cook-Chennault ◽  
Linda S. Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
University Research ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Rutgers University ◽  
Math And Science ◽  
Research Experience For Teachers ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Math And Science Teachers

In addressing the nation’s need for a more technologically-literate society, the Rutgers University Research Experience for Teachers in Engineering (RU RET-E) is designed to: (1) engage middle and high school math and science teachers in innovative “green” engineering research during the summer, and (2) support teachers in integrating their research experiences into their academic year, precollege classrooms. The current paper addresses the following two questions: (1) To what extent did RU RET-E impact participants? and (2) To what extent did participants implement resulting lesson plans? During the 2011 summer, seventeen math and science teachers (RU RET-E Fellows) engaged in “green” research alongside faculty and graduate students. Teachers were required to apply to the program in pairs as one math and one science teacher from the same school. The rationale was that the team would develop interdisciplinary lessons and that teachers would have a colleague at their school who shared the same experience as supports during the school year. The paper provides an overview of the summer experiences and the academic year follow-up activities. Data from the pre- and post-surveys and follow-up questionnaire about lesson implementation are presented. Preliminary data evidences that RU RET-E was successful in enhancing teachers’ understanding of engineering and supporting them as they designed lessons for their precollege classrooms. Most notably, teachers’ confidence in their ability to define engineering, describe what engineers do, generate challenging problems for advanced students and integrate engineering into their curriculum increased significantly. 

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