This award establishes a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site in Arkansas, entitled Data Analytics Teacher Alliance (AR-DATA). The University of Arkansas will partner with school districts within the Northwest Arkansas region to promote research-driven high school analytics curriculum and education, reaching underserved students, such as those from rural areas in Arkansas. At least thirty 9th-12th grade mathematics, computer science, and pre-engineering teachers will work with faculty mentors, graduate students, curriculum coaches, and industry experts in a 6-week RET Summer Program and academic-year follow up to develop and disseminate learning modules to enhance current curriculum, attain new knowledge of data analytics and engineering applications, and benefit professionally through the RET program activities. The learning modules developed will reflect current cutting-edge research in analytics as well as the development needs of next-generation analytics workforce.
The AR-DATA RET program will help prepare 9th-12th grade students for higher education in engineering and for the urgent needs in the analytics workforce in Arkansas. AR-DATA will emphasize a teaming approach to provide a culture of communication and facilitate the success of idea exchange between the teachers and faculty mentors. The instructional materials developed by the RET participating teachers will be shared and disseminated at the local, state, and national levels for broader outreach. This RET site aims to provide a successful example for designing and management of an RET program in rural areas and generate more interest in developing RET programs in Arkansas. This program will also effectively integrate research, real world applications, and classroom teaching through strong partnership and active engagement among university professors, graduate student researchers, industry mentors, and public school administrators and teachers.
This project is jointly funded by the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC), and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
