Impact on Teaching Practices of a Summer Research Experience for Teachers (Evaluation)

Abstract

Among the many professional development opportunities available for educators, Research Experience for Teachers (RET) programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) offer a unique opportunity for teachers to participate in authentic scientific research for 6 to 10 weeks at institutions of higher education. In this paper, we describe and evaluate the RET summer program administered by the NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Nanomanufacturing Systems for Mobile Computing and Mobile Energy Technologies (NASCENT) at the University of Texas, Austin. This program aims to provide elementary, middle and high school teachers with a first-hand research experience in the field of nanomanufacturing. Other goals of the program include reinforcing the value of incorporating scientific inquiry and engineering practices in STEM curricula and creating a community of like-minded teachers, scientists and engineering professionals. By the end of the 7-week program, teachers are expected to prepare a scientific poster to summarize their research. Additionally, teachers prepare a complete lesson related to their research topic that will be presented in front of NASCENT faculty, staff and school administrators and it will become a part of the school's science/engineering curriculum for the following school year. In line with NSF goals, the program offers strong support in curriculum development, thanks to the introduction of a “mentor teacher”, who is a former RET participant (who attended the program twice) with expertise in curriculum development. The mentor teacher serves as a role model and helps during the lesson design. NASCENT organizes weekly cohort meetings where teachers share their ideas, receive feedback on their lesson plan and network with other RET participants and NASCENT faculty and staff. Cumulatively, NASCENT has supported 51 teachers over the past seven years, affecting an estimated 5,000 students. To date, these teachers created 33 lessons posted on the NASCENT website, 8 of which have been accepted by TeachEngineering.org to post on their national platform. The evaluation of this program has been performed by analyzing responses from pre- and post-surveys of the 2016 to 2019 cohorts. The main focus of this paper is investigating the influence of the program on increasing participants' self-reported confidence in research skills and self-reported confidence and comfort in teaching practices around science and engineering. The data analysis shows that teachers increased their knowledge and application of science and engineering concepts, improved awareness of engineering opportunities for their students, and built confidence using open-ended problems and investigations.