RET Site: Transitioning Engineering Research to Middle Schools (TERMS)

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater OK

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides funding for a 3 year continuing award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site program at Oklahoma State University (OSU), in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT) and the College of Education (CoE) entitled, "RET Site: Transitioning Engineering Research to Middle Schools (TERMS)", under the direction of Dr. Karen A. High. This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site involves a total of 21, 6th-9th grade teachers from three local public school districts, 7 each year for three years, and two REU students per year in combined research and K-12 content development. The program consists of pre-visit preparation, a six week summer research experience for the teachers, a twelve week summer research experience for the REU students and follow up academic interactions between RET teachers, OSU faculty, REU students, and middle school students. The project's intellectual and educational focus is on how engineers understand, design, fabricate, and test materials and structures engineered so collective interactions give rise to unique properties. TERMS will recruit participating teachers from low income, rural, and Native American communities.