RET: Shaping Inquiry from Feedstock to Tailpipe with Education Development (SHIFTED)

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides funding for a 3 year continuing award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science Site program at the University of Kansas (KU) entitled, "RET: Shaping Inquiry from Feedstock to Tailpipe with Education Development (SHIFTED)", under the direction of Dr. Susan M. Stagg-Williams. The proposed new SHIFTED RET Program enhances and extends the previous successful SHIFT RET Program (EEC-0909100). This program hosted by the University of Kansas and the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center (referred to as Greenbush) will provide a 6 week summer experience for a total of 39 in-service and pre-service teachers (13 per year for 3 years). The participants will be math and science high school teachers and UKanTeach undergraduate interns. THE RET:SHIFTED program at KU is a synergistic alliance between KU faculty, Greenbush, and the UKanTeach program. This is a natural collaborative endeavor, KU faculty members have interdisciplinary research projects and a rich history of mentoring high school teachers, Greenbush has been delivering content to K-12 students and teachers for decades and UKanTeach is an innovative teacher preparation program for ~400 undergraduate science and math students. The primary objectives of the program are to: 1)Engage high school teachers in authentic research opportunities. 2) Guide the creation of classroom activities that (a) use real-world applications; (b) bridge multiple subject areas; (c) engage students in scientific inquiry or engineering design; and (d) stimulate students' interest in science, technology, engineering and math. 3) Nuture long-term linkages between KU faculty and the surrounding educational community. 4) Provide professional development opportunities to pre- and in-service teachers. 5) Broadly disseminate classroom activities. Most of the participants will teach at schools with a majority of economically disadvantaged students. The rural schools have a growing Hispanic population and the urban schools serve many students from underrepresented groups. A partnership with Science Pioneers will also help the project team reach more than 1,000 teachers and 4,000 students in the greater Kansas City region. By partnering with UKanTeach, SHIFTED will expose pre-service teachers to research and innovative classroom activities, increase its recruitment pool via UKanTeach alumni, and broaden dissemination. Each participant will be equipped with the skills and tools needed to effectively disseminate outcomes with local, regional and national audiences. With guidance from Greenbush educators, participants will translate their research experiences into curricular materials, designed to meet state science standards, that can be used in their classes the following year.