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 the University of Connecticut (UConn) entitled, RET in Engineering and Computer Science Site: The Joule Fellows: Teachers in Sustainable Technologies Research Laboratories", under the direction of Dr. Kazem Kazerounian.
The energy focus will equip Joule Fellows to teach, mentor, and enlighten students and colleagues on energy alternatives, conservation, impacts, and the potential for engineering research to find effective solutions for a sustainable future. This mentoring program will enable broad dissemination of energy knowledge throughout the State. An important focus of this proposal is the integration of Technical High School teachers into the teacher cohorts who will be recruited for the Joule Fellow program which will also include participants from conventional high schools and community colleges.
This proposed project will build and improve upon a previous successful NSF RET project. It will expand and enhance the previous project as a comprehensive three-year program to host 54 (18 each year) teachers and instructors-including Technical High School teachers-at the UConn Storrs campus for six weeks during the summer. The research theme will be in the important areas of sustainable technologies production and applications, including energy, structural and environmental arenas. Participating teachers/instructors will be called Joule Fellows and will be recruited from Hartford, Willimantic, Bridgeport, Bloomfield, New Haven and Waterbury. Planned activities are integrated into: (i) research preparation, (ii) research participation, (iii) professional development, (iv) bridging technology and G7-14 curriculum, and (v) mentorship and outreach. An additional component is program sustainability/institutionalization. Joule Fellows will: 1) Examine engineering developments through classroom instruction; guest lectures; and half-day tours of Connecticut energy and environmental firms illustrating practical applications of lab technologies; 2) Gain exposure to sustainable energy discoveries through collaboration with faculty researchers and graduate students in labs; 3) Learn best engineering research practices (including safety, data collection and analysis, and computational tools), technical communication, scientific ethics and conduct, to expand their experiential impact beyond the RET program; 4) Learn techniques for creatively solving laboratory problems and how to translate this knowledge into effective classroom lessons; 5) Develop and implement experiments based on the research activities of the Joule Fellows program to use in their home institutions during the academic year; 6) Participate in workshops during the academic year to assist colleagues to develop and improve science and mathematics instruction based on the experiential learning developed in the research laboratories; 7) Gain exposure to life-long learning possibilities at the University and remain connected to the faculty and administrators at the School of Engineering; and 8) Benefit from ongoing collaborations with their Joule Buddies and UConn faculty mentors throughout the school year to enhance teaching and to develop proposals for equipment, travel, and training grants.
