This award provides funding for a 3 year standard award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site program at Northeastern University entitled, "RET-PLUS (Partners Linking Urban Schools," under the direction of Dr. Michael Silevitch and Ms. Claire Duggan. This is a renewal of a previously supported three year RET Site.
Northeastern University's Center for STEM Education in collaboration with the Bernard M. Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (Gordon-CenSSIS) an NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC), and the College of Engineering, will continue its current RET program to build and support STEM change agents throughout partner schools. Ten participants per year for three years from local K-12 school districts and community colleges will participate in a six week comprehensive program during the summer. Participants and mentor faculty will engage in collaborative inquiry through shared research experiences. This will strengthen the content knowledge of teachers, build understanding and professional respect, and provide opportunities for leadership and professional development for all members of the RET team.
Funding for this award is being provided by the Engineering Research Centers (ERC) Program in the Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC).
The NSF Research Experiences for Teachers Plus (RET-PLUS) program has provided funding for ten participants annually drawn from local middle and secondary schools and local Community Colleges. The program encouraged two-years of participation by program participants. Research was conducted in a variety of engineering laboratories on the main Northeastern University (NU) campus, at Boston University and at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Funding from the NSF was complemented by funding from other federal and private sources, allowing the program to support 46 participants over the past four years. This program combined lab experiences, seminars, on-line community building tools, and curriculum development to support the professional development of the RET participants. When asked how this program compared to other professional development experiences, program alumni were nearly unanimous in their assertion that this program was of higher quality, usefulness, and relevance than previous professional development experiences. They felt they came away with concrete tools and lessons to use in their classrooms. The central RET program component involved direct engagement in laboratory research. During the research experience, teachers engaged in a variety of activities, both at the basic level appropriate to individuals just entering a research situation and at higher levels that would be expected of those more deeply invested in the lab. The experience provided an opportunity for teachers to reconnect with what it was like to be a learner, and to meaningfully address curriculum and pedagogy. Participants overwhelmingly felt that a lab experience should be a part of science teacher training. One of the teachers stated "You can’t learn from a book, workshop, course, et al... It is possible to acquire the tools for successful instruction through a diverse grouping of these things. You learn through practice, successes, failures, and more of the same… All teachers learn differently; the same way students can learn in different ways-remember, we’re students, also." As long-term impacts of their involvement, some teachers said that taking part had rejuvenated them as teachers, while others cited both increased confidence with and an interest in research, being more open to outside ideas, and having greater breadth in their understanding of science and engineering. The RET-PLUS program focused on both process and product. Participants were required to develop inquiry-based lessons tied to their respective research assignments that would be integrated into classroom curriculum. Supporting professional development began each year with an introduction to Bransford et al.’s How People Learn, followed by reflections and discussions on-line and in a classroom setting. This facilitated reflection upon the teacher’s current classroom practices and experiences and the research-based information found in the text. Prior to the engineering research immersion, several additional days of professional development were provided. Sessions focused on the on key objectives of the NU RET-PLUS program: 1) Developing inquiry-based teaching strategies by exposure to sample lessons and to teachers that incorporate inquiry-based teaching practices in their curricula; 2) Connecting the Engineering research within the laboratory to the classroom; 3) Training in laboratory safety, confidentiality, and proprietary knowledge of the laboratory environment. Teachers participating in the program brought their summer research experiences back into the classroom to extend the reach of the program. This was done most notably through lesson plans developed as part of the summer experience, however numerous other aspects of the experience also impacted the way the teachers taught. These resulted in the development and implementation of new, research-informed curricula upon their return to the classroom. Teachers commented that the program allowed them to broaden their curriculum, to bring in real-world applications and to change the approach to teaching. Specific examples include: "My experience will cause me to be more reflective of how I can use research that is aligned with my curriculum. In addition, this experience has forced me to rethink what engineering is and how it is so much more than just physics." Through their participation in group activities the teachers have also developed strong relationships with one another and continue to share resources from one school to another in addition to maintaining contact with faculty and staff from the university. The NU RET-PLUS program was provided supplemental support to coordinate a national networking conference for RET participants in collaboration with the National Science Teachers Association’s annual meeting. This session allowed many teachers the opportunity to attend the NSTA conference for the first time in addition to supporting the development of a national network of RET program alumni. The RET-PLUS site has coordinated sessions at NSTA each year since 2004.
