Suzanne W. Soled - US grants

Project STEP, involves graduate and undergraduate Fellows, secondary science and mathematics teachers, University of Cincinnati faculty and a graphics/web developer, working in teams to design, develop, and implement hands-on activities and technology-driven inquiry-based projects which relate to the students' community issues, as vehicles to teach science and math skills. Activities will be incorporated into lessons, demonstrations, laboratory exercises, individual and group projects, and field experiences to enable middle and high school students to directly experience authentic learning practices that requires them to use higher-order thinking skills; encourage creative problem-solving skills that require collaborative learning, teamwork, writing, and presentation; cultivate an interest in service learning in which students are active participants, achieve outcomes that show a perceptible impact, and engage in evaluative reflection; and better motivate and prepare secondary school students for advanced education. The Fellows will be trained to create and implement these activities by taking an educational methods course, an advanced course in instructional technology, and by serving as teaching assistants and tutors in guiding summer academies for middle and high school students. Quantitative formative and summative evaluation will be conducted to assess the project's effectiveness on Fellows' teaching skills, its impact on middle and high school science and mathematics education, and to continually improve the program as it develops. This project is receiving partial support from the Directorate for Engineering.

This action provides funding for a three year standard award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site program at the University of Cincinnati entitled, "Summer Research Experiences for Seventh to Twelfth Grade Teachers in Civil Infrastructure Renewal and Rehabilitation," under the direction of Dr. Anant R. Kukreti. The goals of this program are: 1) to educate, cultivate, and facilitate 7th to 12th grade science and math teachers by exploring the scientific method of inquiry and the critical research skills that engineers use to solve open-ended real world problems; 2) to have the participating teachers become role models by applying their research experiences in their classrooms and with colleagues; and 3) to have the teachers' new skills enable 7th to 12th grade students to directly link their education to events and issues occurring within their community and encourage them to become effective citizens in a technology driven society.

This proposal describes a Track 2 project developed by the University of Cincinnati that will partner fellows and teachers to develop curriculum modules in the framework called "STEMcinnati City". This Track 2 Project STEP-a partnership of UC faculty and 5 graduate Fellows, 5 strategically chosen high schools, and community and industrial partners-strives to further improve STEM interest and skills of high school students using engineering as a context for authentic learning through an overarching project. The vision is to develop a seamless community of UC and K-12 learners sharing STEM knowledge. The primary goals of this project are: 1) to train, energize and sustain graduate engineering, math and science Fellows to effectively teach STEM skills to secondary school students; 2) to develop hierarchical and expandable STEM lesson plans that explicitly connect key concepts at different grade levels; and 3) to plant the seeds of systemic change at UC and K-12 schools through synergistic partnerships that ensure the sustainability of the program beyond NSF funding.

Partners: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools: Hughes Teaching and Technology High School, Hughes CAMAS High School, Western Hills Design Technology High School, Western Hills University High School, and Shroder Paidea High School.