This award provides funding for a three year standard award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science Site program at Georgia Institute of Technology entitled, "RET: Partnerships for Research, Innovation, and Multi-Scale Engineering (PRIME)", under the direction of Dr. Baratunde Cola and Dr. Jamila Cola.
The PRIME RET site is a collaboration between faculty in the College of Engineering (Mechanical, Chemical, and Biomedical Engineering), K-12 outreach specialists at Georgia Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), Clayton and Rockdale County School Districts, K-12 educators, and Art Consultants. The PRIME RET site will immerse 48 STEM middle and high school teachers (16 per year for 3 years) in a 7-week mentored research experience with engineering faculty at Georgia Tech. The PRIME RET site will increase engineering literacy and improve understanding of fundamental science and math principles central to the engineering domain by developing and sharing art-infused engineering lesson plans based on cutting-edge engineering research across multiple length scales. Saturday follow-up sessions, and a wiki site, will allow teachers to refine and share their lesson plans with other science and math teachers interested in attracting and retaining students, especially underrepresented minorities and women in STEM fields.
PRIME RET participants will develop art-integrated engineering lesson plans that will explore and build various habits of mind that are important in engineering as a profession. These engaging lesson plans will foster a student and teacher culture of creativity and engage the growing underrepresented minority student population in Atlanta. Over the course of three years, 48 arts-engineering lesson plans will be developed and refined to excite and engage students with multi-scale engineering. These materials will be disseminated through conference workshops and websites.
