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Funded by the NSF Division of Computer and Network Systems, this grant establishes a new Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site at the University of South Alabama (USA). In the summer of 2021, eight middle school and high school teachers from two local public-school districts spent six weeks engaged with research activities on biologically-inspired computing systems. They worked on discovery-based research projects and obtained transdisciplinary research experience on biologically-inspired computing systems spanning application (cancer detection), algorithm (Spiking Neural Networks), architecture and circuit (synaptic memory design), and device (memristor). The USA faculty mentors, curriculum development specialist from school districts, Instructional Coach from Science/Mathematics faculty at USA coached participants as they designed standards-compliant curriculum modules and conducted professional development activities. The implementation details of the summer program and the evaluation results are presented in this paper.
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Particle Engineering Research from the NSF ERC Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program at NJIT
We aim to give highlights of particle engineering research from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)’s Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Program, which is a collaboration of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Particulate Systems (ERC-SOPS) and the Center for Pre-College Programs. This NSF-funded program engaged pairs of 14 high school teachers in 2015 summer research program, where they performed research on various particulate materials and processes relevant to pharmaceutical products. In addition, various faculty and educational experts delivered workshops on technical writing, best research practice, effective collaboration in a team, pharmaceutical industry and process–formulation development, educational module development, etc. The teachers acquired the skills and knowledge of research and the subject of particle engineering and pharmaceutical engineering that they incorporated into their teaching practice. In the research component of the program, the teachers collaborated with graduate student mentors under the guidance of professors and worked on various particle–pharmaceutical engineering projects. In the educational component, the teachers came up with a professional development plan and prepared “educational modules”, which were delivered to high school students. While this presentation will expose few educational highlights including sample modules developed by the teachers, it will mainly focus on two summer research projects about the bioavailability enhancement of poorly water-soluble drugs via drug nanoparticle composites and drug nanoparticle-laden polymer strip films. Through application of particle engineering approaches such as nanoparticle formation–stabilization and drug encapsulation within hydrophilic polymeric matrices, we have ensured fast redispersibility of drug nanoparticles from solid dosages and demonstrated significant improvement of the dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble drugs.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1301071
- PAR ID:
- 10022426
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AICHE Annual Meeting
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) programs provide opportunities for professional development for teachers. The goal of the RET site at North Dakota State University (NDSU), established in May 2020 (NSF Awards #1953102 and #2224135), was to increase the knowledge of secondary (6th to 12th grade) educators in the use of civil engineering to mitigate natural disasters and their ability to prepare their students to become leaders in STEM disciplines. The primary goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the professional development provided in preparing participants to teach STEM topics in their classrooms. The study utilized a mixed method approach and an external evaluator to present data on the responses to two online surveys and a self-interview conducted with the secondary educators in the Summer 2021 NDSU RET cohort. Three themes emerged: (1) difficulty with math, (2) lack of connection/examples, and (3) issues with open-endedness and time to get a response. Nearly all the teachers noted that experiments and simulations with data were helpful strategies in engaging their students in STEM topics. They found value in connecting these topics with real-world problems in the student’s lives. Teachers had increased knowledge about the research projects, real-world applications, and other ways to engage their students in STEM (specifically, civil engineering). Their knowledge was further increased by their interactions with other teachers in the RET program as well as through the presentations that the other teachers delivered during the summer activities.more » « less
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