NSF Award
2419292
This renewal Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site: Engineering for People and the Planet: Research Experiences for Teaching Integrated STEM is hosted by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The RET site focuses on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for an integrated approach of learning and doing science, math, and engineering through real-world problems that focus on people and the planet. A pre-service teacher and a local in-service teacher will conduct summer research for six weeks. Participants will work with a faculty mentor on topics such as healthy lives, quality education, clean energy, responsible consumption, and climate action. The teachers will participate in professional development workshops to translate their research experience into lesson plans and classroom activities, as well as present their work to broader audiences. This project will impact many high school science, tech/engineering, and math (STEM) teachers and high school students in underserved districts with populations that are racially and ethnically diverse. By building the capacity for strong STEM educators in our region, we can provide relevant STEM learning opportunities that engage students to develop real-world problem-solving skills and help prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers.<br/><br/>This renewal Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site: Engineering for People and the Planet: Research Experiences for Teaching Integrated STEM is hosted by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The objectives are to: 1) Provide authentic research experiences in labs focusing on Engineering problem-solving and research that is centered on People and the Planet (U.N. Sustainable Develop Goals); 2) Deliver high-quality professional development for the teachers to create an “Integrated STEM” lesson plan based on their research experiences, implement their lessons with their students, and share the lesson plan to broader audiences; 3) Increase participants’ confidence and knowledge about how engineering benefits people; and 4) Foster a community of educators for mentoring and support among the pre-service teachers, area in-service teachers, WPI faculty and graduate students, industry partners, and the STEM Education Center. Four pre-service teachers and four local in-service high school teachers from high needs schools will be paired with WPI faculty for six weeks. Research topics may include: 1) genetically engineering a plasmid to study antibiotic resistance, 2) brain sensing for personalized learning environments, 3) photocatalysts for treatment of contaminated water and production of clean energy, 4) water-based technology for plastic recycling, and 5) continuous manufacturing for cleaner pharmaceutical engineering. Participants will have weekly workshops to guide their research projects as they learn research techniques and culminate in a public RET Poster Symposium.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
