The Transforming Experiences GK-12 institutes a system that will enhance and strengthen the teaching and research of the chosen GK-12 graduate fellows. Through interdisciplinary teams, including science and mathematics fellows, university content faculty and middle school teachers, the project will create a process for transformation and simultaneous renewal of instruction based primarily on inquiry-based learning. The GK-12 fellows, with assistance from their faculty mentors, will serve as conduits to middle school classrooms as co-instructional partners for curricular and instructional development, advisors, mentors, and content and research experts. Additionally, global connections with an exchange of educational philosophies will be made as teams participate in regular video-conferences and possible visits with Chinese colleagues involved in developing a similar program.
By participating in this program, GK-12 Fellows will transform their understanding of teaching and learning, and leave with a new vision of how they, as higher education mathematics and science professionals, can interact, communicate and work effectively with the pre-collegiate community to improve P-20 mathematics and science education. Teachers and content faculty will gain a better understanding of mathematical and scientific learning and research that they can apply through problem-based learning in their future classrooms. Participants will experience first-hand the necessary skills of working as a team. Team members will also gain an appreciation of the cultural difference of the Chinese educational system, how it relates to the American educational system.
