“I was able to put myself back in the shoes of a student doing exploration and remember about a lot of the frustrations. That was especially good because I can reflect and think about how I might frustrate my students in the learning process in ways that are and aren’t productive, and to focus more on the ways that are productive.” (HS teacher).
“I feel adequately comfortable now with the engineering standards and prepared to implement them. I do imagine I will be challenged in doing this. I will bring a lot of understandings and realizations of what a good research experience is like and what supports are needed and use those understandings to build research experiences in my classroom.” (HS teacher).
Highlighting a cool project we have been working on with the San Jose State University. SJSU’s National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site is a program that provides the San Jose area high school teachers with the unique opportunity to gain hands-on research experience in engineering and computer science while working on some very cool projects alongside the faculty of SJSU and interacting with several industry partners.
The RET program is designed to help teachers develop a deeper understanding of engineering and computer science concepts and how they apply to real-world problems in their classrooms with their students.
By participating in the program, teachers gain valuable experience working alongside researchers in cutting-edge labs and have the opportunity to develop new teaching materials and strategies that can be used in their classrooms.
The program is open to K-12 teachers from across the United States, with a focus on teachers from under-resourced schools and those who serve underrepresented student populations. Participants in the program receive a very decent stipend.
The RET program at SJSU has a strong focus on collaboration and community-building. Teachers work together in small groups to develop projects and teaching materials, and they have the opportunity to attend workshops and seminars on a wide range of topics related to engineering and computer science education.
In 2022, the kinds of projects that the first cohort of 10 HS STEM teachers completed were as follows:
1. Carbon capture and storage
2. Production of sustainable and safe lithium-ion batteries
3. Production of antioxidants from microbial biocatalysts and
4. Machine learning in engineering applications.
Program details are here: https://lnkd.in/eCDZaqBb
Glad to be working as their evaluation partner.
