This project targets approximately 75 STEM teachers (one cohort of 25 teachers each year) and 150 grade 7-12 students over three years, focusing on the Squeak media authoring tool as a modeling environment to infuse IT skills into the core STEM curriculum. Using Squeak allows STEM teachers to create 'virtual laboratories' in which to engage students in inquiry-based learning. The project is proposed as collaboration with New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick County Schools -- all Southeastern North Carolina (SENC) school systems heavily populated by rural, underserved students. In the first year the project will target grade 7-8 students and their teachers; in the second year grade 9-10; and in the third year grades 11-12. The teachers will be recruited by technology and curriculum coordinators from each of the three SENC counties, six of whom are key personnel in this proposal. Each of the teachers will then recruit two of his/her students for the summer workshop. Teachers will receive 132 hours of professional development, including a one-week summer workshop (30 hours), 72 hours of on-site training sessions during the academic year, and an experience of teaching their recruited students for 20 hours (10 more hours devoted to planning/reflecting).
