Graduate and Undergraduate Students Enhancing Science and Technology in K-12 Schools (GUEST K-12)

University Of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Mayaguez PR

Investigators

Abstract

Various K-12 educational programs have been developed by University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, which coherently couple motivation, orientation, training, and follow-up activities of K-12 teachers and students with undergraduate, graduate, and university professors. Among them are the programs enclosed in the Earth Science Initiative: Science on Wheels, GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), SCBL (Sensors and Calculator-Based Laboratory) and the Geology Outreach. University graduate and undergraduate students are already a significant part of the training activities resulting in a favorable model for the development and motivation of future science and engineering professionals and pre-college teachers. Therefore, the GUEST K-12 (Graduate and Undergraduate Students Enhancing Science and Technology in K-12 Schools) program proposes to coordinate and reinforce the partnership between the university and K-12 schools by funding highly qualified undergraduate (four) and graduate (sixteen) students to serve as resources in the pre-college classroom. This initiative will be coupled to existing K-12 outreach programs and will benefit more than three hundred teachers and over ten thousand students. The GUEST K-12 program will transform precollege teachers into science and technology proficient educators while fellows will improve communication and teaching-related skills. This award is co-supported by the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.