The goal of this Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering program at Washington University (WU) in St. Louis entitled "NUE: Nanotechnology Minor at Washington University University in St. Louis", under the direction of Dr. Dong Qin, is to attract and engage undergraduate students to the study of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. A Minor in Nanotechnology for all undergraduate students across the campus will be created and a total of twenty summer research internships will be provided to develop the Process Orientated Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) modules related to Nanotechnology for K-12 education outreach.
This new initiative at WU will provide an excellent opportunity to build an interdisciplinary education and research program in nanotechnology for undergraduate students with a focus on the following components: 1) learning that exposes students to a multifaceted, integrated approach to learning about the fundamentals and new developments in nanotechnology, as well as its environmental and societal impacts; 2) training that offers students research experience in the Nano Research Facility (NRF)-a site of the NSF supported National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) and in the laboratories of participating faculty for exploration of research tools and discovery in the frontiers of nanotechnology; and 3) engaging that connects the students with community and society to impart and promote a basic conceptual understanding of nanotechnology in high school students and teachers.
The goal of NUE is to engage undergraduate students into the study of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology by creating a Minor in Nanotechnology. The pedagogy centers on a multifaceted approach to teaching and learning fundamentals and new developments in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology, as well as their connections with traditional disciplines. The grant was initially awarded to Washington University in St. Louis and transferred to Georgia Tech when I relocated in January, 2012. This grant has offered research internships to a group of 12 selected undergraduate students who worked with their mentors (both faculty members and graduate students) in the summers of 2011 and 2012 to develop Process Orientated Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL, www.pogil.org) modules for K-12 education. By leveraging the extensive research enterprise at Georgia Tech and the existing undergraduate curriculum with a focus on nanotechnology, I have been developing a Minor in Nanoscale Science and Engineering with a goal to integrate nanoscale science and technology into undergraduate education with an emphasis on hands-on experience. This NUE program has cultivated an environment for undergraduate students to be engaged in research. Since my arrival at GT in 2012, I have been working with one high school student, three first year student, and three junior students on a number of research projects related to plasmonic nanomaterials. Specifically, I have engaged students in designing their own experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and understanding in authentic research. Students learned the fundamentals of nanomaterials with an understanding of the size-property relationship for materials at the nanoscale, and gained hands-on experience with state-of-the-art research tools in my lab and the shared user facilities on campus. These research activities helped them build self-confidence in their own ability; developed motivation to take action in pursuit of their goals; became inspired to acquire new knowledge and skills; and established professional identification to feel like a scientist. Three of them co-authored two recent publications from my group with support from this NUE program. In particular, Jonathan Li, a rising senior student from Duluth High School in Atlanta, conducted research in my lab in the summer of 2012. His original work entitled "Kinetically controlled synthesis of silver nanoplates and nanodisks via a solvothermal route" earned him recognitions including a semifinalist of the 2013 Intel Science Talent Search (STS) and a 2012 semifinalist and regional finalist of the Siemens Competition. He is a first year student at Columbia University (chemistry major). I am a strong believer that the engagement of undergraduate students in research serves as a critical component to increase the persistence of college students in STEM. A recent education article in Science stated that less than half of the students planning to graduate in a STEM discipline persist to graduation, and that this persistence rate is even lower for women and racial minorities. Programs that have been successful in promoting persistence in STEM fields prioritize early research experiences. Research endeavors greatly help the students develop scientific knowledge, effective problem solving skill, self-directed learning capability, effective collaboration skill, and intrinsic motivation. I have been teaching an undergraduate course – Fundamental to Nanomaterials and Nanostructures (MSE 4330), with a focus on the fundamental understanding of the relationships between structures and properties at the nanoscale. I have been developing lab modules with an emphasis on hands-on experience to enhance the learning and understanding of important subjects discussed in MSE 4330. Active learning methods such as these also appeared as successful interventions in the recent education article in Science on increasing student persistence in STEM fields. Ultimately, the concept course with hands-on lab modules will blur the lines between classroom and lab, and ultimately each laboratory experiment and its associated classroom activity will become stand-alone module that can be easily implemented in any upper-level materials science and engineering course. I have been working closely with Dr. Nancy Healy, the education director of the NSF-supported NNIN (ECS-0335765) at Georgia Tech. The NNIN undertakes a broad spectrum of innovative activities in education, human resource development, knowledge transfer and outreach on national scale. I have participated in the NSF-NNIN-REU and RET programs to make invaluable contributions, transforming my research to make a profound impact on these education programs. Our collaborations have helped to expose K-12 students to advanced and exciting research in nanotechnology and motivate them to educate themselves for careers in the sciences or engineering.
