2008 SUMMER RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR TEACHERS
The Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, a research consortium of seven universities researching and developing advanced fluid power technology, sponsors a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program for six weeks every summer. The purpose of this booklet is to describe the program and the activities, obligations and responsibilities of the RET teacher and faculty mentor participants.
Program Overview
Research Experience for Teachers is a National Science Foundation (NSF) program whose purpose is to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in schools by funding high school teachers and community college faculty to spend the summer in a university engineering research lab. By actively involving the teachers in engineering research, knowledge of engineering and technological innovation will be brought into their classrooms. Based on their research experiences, teachers will translate their new knowledge into classroom activities.
The Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) sponsors an RET program each summer for six teachers who wish to have a research experience in fluid power at one of the seven universities involved in the center: the University of Minnesota, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
In 2008, the CCEFP’s RET program will be held at the
The teacher will spend the final days of the program developing an instruction unit based on their research experience, for implementation in the home classroom the following academic year. Two follow-up activities are conducted during the following academic year. The teacher meet with their CCEFP faculty mentor once to report on the status of instruction unit implementation. Towards the end of the academic year, the teacher delivers a final report that documents the implemented curriculum.
RET participants are paid a weekly stipend and receive an allowance for supplies and equipment related to their research project or instruction unit development.
The CCEFP recruits RET participants from the pool of local high school STEM teachers. Special recruiting efforts are paid to high schools that teach the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) pre-engineering curriculum. Teachers that serve racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in engineering are particularly encouraged to participate. When possible, at least two teachers are recruited from the same high school and teachers are clustered with at least two teachers at a site.
Responsibilities of the Teacher
Participating teachers are the core of the RET program. Teachers have an immersive experience in a university research lab, and use that experience to craft instructional materials that are used in the home classroom. Where possible, teachers will be paired at the university sites.
The program is full time for six weeks and is on-site at the host university. While reasonable accommodations can be made for scheduling, prospective teacher participants should only apply to the program if they are available for the full six weeks and are able to commute daily to the host campus.
The responsibilities of the teacher are to:
1. Meet with the faculty mentor in advance of the start date to define a project and create a project description. Complete the pre-experience RET program evaluation form.
2. Attend
the half-day RET orientation session followed by an introduction to the lab
3. Work in the lab on the research project for 24 days, 40 hour weeks. During this time, begin to formulate curricular materials.
4. Participate in periodic all-site video conferences to share experiences among fellow teacher participants.
5. Spend
the final five days developing the curriculum materials that will be
implemented in the home classroom. The curriculum should be aligned with
applicable science and math standards and include fluid power engineering
content. The curriculum materials should be in a format for future posting on
teachengineering.org, an international database of K-12 engineering education
resources. The curriculum will also be posted on the CCEFP web site.
6. Deliver
the end-of-summer report, which includes the research results and the draft
curriculum. Complete the end-of-summer RET program evaluation form.
7. During the following academic year, implement the draft curriculum in your classroom, revising as needed. Work with the Coordinator to facilitate evaluation of the curriculum.
8. During the academic year. meet once with the faculty mentor to discuss the curriculum.
9. If appropriate, conduct an in-service session about your curriculum with peer teachers at your school.
10. Deliver the final report, due in April, which includes evaluation of the curriculum and final curricular materials suitable for posting on teachengineering.org. Complete the final evaluation form.
Teachers will receive a weekly stipend for the six weeks of participation. The final week’s payment will be paid upon the delivery of the final report the following April.
Responsibilities of the Faculty Mentor
The faculty mentor is critical to the success of the teacher’s experience. The mentor must be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member at one of the seven CCEFP universities. It is the mentor who works with the teacher to define a project that relates to the mentor’s CCEFP research and it is the mentor, as a subject matter expert, who ensures that the technical content of the curriculum developed by the teacher is correct. While it is important that the teacher be engaged in a CCEFP research (not education) project and that the teacher has specific responsibilities, it is not expected that the teacher produce new research knowledge during the short time of the program. Rather, the expectation is that by being engaged in research, the teacher will bring a research and technology development perspective to their curriculum.
Prior to the start of the program, the CCEFP RET Program Coordinator will work with the faculty mentors to develop example projects that are within each teacher’s capabilities, interests and program time. Projects should align with each faculty mentor’s CCEFP research goals.
While the faculty mentor should be available for consultation, it is not expected that the mentor have daily contact as it is up to the teacher to work independently. The mentor is the supervisor, but that supervision should require less effort than supervising a graduate student. Ideally, the teacher should be engaged with a research group, benefiting from the advice and consultation of post-docs, graduate and undergraduate students.
The responsibilities of the mentor are to:
1. Work with the teacher in advance of the start date to define a project, and review the project description generated by the teacher.
2. Provide a space in the lab for the teacher to work. The teacher will be in the lab for 40 hour weeks for the duration of the program.
3. Meet with the assigned teacher on the first day of the program to review the plan and to get the teacher settled into the lab including introducing the teacher to lab members.
4. During the program, periodically meet with the teacher to review progress.
5. Review the emerging curriculum and advise the teacher on its technical content.
6. Review the end-of-summer report generated by the teacher. Complete a brief program evaluation form which has questions about the mentor’s experience with the program.
7. Meet once with the teacher during the following academic year to discuss the teacher’s experience in implementing the curriculum.
8. Review the final report generated by the teacher and complete a second brief program evaluation form.
The faculty mentor will receive small stipend of discretionary money to be used for CCEFP research activities.
Responsibilities of the Program Coordinator
The CCEFP RET Program Coordinator manages the overall program and handles the logistics of RET activities at the CCEFP sites.
The Coordinator responsibilities are to:
1. Market and recruit to produce a quality RET applicant pool.
2. Select the RET participants and matching the participants to faculty mentors with their consultation.
3. Develop and administer the orientation sessions for the teachers and the periodic activities that link teachers at the RET sites.
4. Work with teachers and mentors to solve problems and remove roadblocks.
5. Administer and collect all program evaluation questionnaires and teacher reports, and coordinate posting of the final curricula.
6. Generate an annual CCEFP RET report that is completed in April of the following academic year.
7. Pay teacher stipends and mentor discretionary funds.
Application Process
Application materials for prospective RET teacher
participants include: (1) a one page cover letter indicating interest in fluid
power, what research you would like to work on (see www.ccefp.org) and why you
would like to be selected for the program, (2) a resume, (3) the name, title,
telephone number and e-mail address of two professional references, one of
which should be the Principal (or equivalent) at your school. Application
materials should be sent by email as a PDF enclosure to Alyssa Burger,
2008 RET Program Schedule
Note
that the schedule will vary somewhat at each RET location. Check with the
program coordinator for exact dates.
Fall Marketing and recruiting activities start
Jan 1 Applications open
April 30 All RET participants and mentors have been selected
June 23 Teachers report for half-day orientation session, held by video conference at all sites. Following orientation, teachers and mentors connect for their introduction to their project and the lab.
June 24 Lab work begins, 40 hours per week on-site.
July 8 All site video conference to share experiences.
July 22 All site video conference to share experiences.
July 25 Last day of lab work.
July 28 First day of curriculum writing
July 31 All site video conference to share experiences.
Aug 1 Final day of curriculum writing. Last day on-site. Closing lunch for teachers and mentors.
Aug 1 End-of-summer report due. End-of-summer questionnaires for teachers and mentors.
Sept-April Curriculum implemented.
April 1 All site video conference to share experiences.
April 30 Final report due. End-of-program questionnaires for teachers. Final payment to teacher upon receipt of final report.
Stipend
Teachers receive a $1,000 stipend per week for six weeks, $6,000 total. Payment of the Week 6 stipend is held until delivery of the final report the following April. In addition, teachers receive up to $750 for justified research equipment and supplies.
Faculty mentors receive discretionary funds of $750 for each teacher advised. The funds are to be used to support activities related to CCEFP research.
Reports
The teacher participant produces two reports during their RET experience. The required outline for each report will be available at the start of the program.
End-of-Summer Report Part 1 documents the research findings. Part 2 documents the draft curriculum and the plans for implementation.
Final Report Describes and evaluates the curriculum. Appendices contain teacher guides and student materials used for implementing the curriculum.
More Information
CCEFP RET Program: Alyssa Burger,