This Research Experience for Teachers (RET) focuses on international engineering research based on human-centered design and appropriate technology for developing countries. This RET site is a collaborative effort between the University of Dayton (UD) and Central State University (CSU) that will engage both in-service and pre-service teachers with hands-on research experiences with both domestic and international community partners. Participants will engage in a transformative, twelve month experience with five distinct components: (1) Intercultural competence and travel preparation; (2) Appropriate technology related research and/or human-centered design with a faculty member at UD or CSU who supports the work of an international community partner; (3) On-site work at the international community partner's facility; (4) Two-week intensive curriculum development with the participant cohort under the guidance of a curriculum coach; and (5) Follow-on programming that includes continued research with a faculty member, piloting, revising, and final submission of curriculum to TeachEngineering or for sharing with other college faculty on CSU's and UD's websites. This RET site will provide a transformational experience for teachers that they will be able to bring into their curriculum and classroom. This program will help develop intercultural competence in participants and facilitate an understanding of engineering impact in a global context. Through this unique program, participants will experience personal growth through cultural immersion, and participate in creating and designing engineering solutions to address specific social concerns. As a result of their experiences, they will create highly integrated STEM curriculum that includes geography, history, political science, and culture that incorporates best practices for attracting underrepresented populations to engineering.
This Research Experience for Teachers emphasizes international engineering research thematically focused on human-centered design and appropriate technology for developing countries. This a collaborative RET between the University of Dayton (UD) and Central State University (CSU) with an emphasis. This three year project will engage 36 G6-12 in-service and pre-service teachers in a variety of engineering research opportunities through UDs ETHOS (Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities for Service Learning) Center. In the fall of each year, 12 teachers will be recruited into the year-long research program which includes 2 months of on-site summer work and an additional 2.5 months of programming throughout the year. From January to April, teachers will participate in a series of orientation activities where they will meet their faculty mentors, be introduced to their research projects that connect to UD's ETHOS center, learn about appropriate technology and human-centered design, travel safety and the community to which they will be traveling. The ETHOS Center, which has provided service-learning experiences through technical immersions for more than 15 years, will coordinate participant travel. Prior to their international immersion, the teachers will engage in research with their faculty mentor part time during the school year. Throughout June and July, teachers will conduct campus-based research as well as engage in a related project with an international partner in a 2-4 week international placement. Upon their return, they will continue to engage with this project and their international partners using institutional research facilities and virtual communication technology. Teachers will participate in an intensive, affinity structured and team-based curriculum development program for two weeks, where they will develop lessons using the TeachEngineering format under the guidance of a curriculum coach. The follow-up program will include lesson piloting and publishing, continued research, ETHOS retreat and closing presentation and celebration. Lessons will be piloted, edited and published during the fall.
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.
