Nature Inspired Engineering Research Experiences for Teachers

该奖项为一个为期3年的标准奖提供资金，以支持特拉华大学工程领域的教师研究经验(RET)项目，该项目由Kenneth Barner博士指导，名为“教师自然启发的工程研究经验(NISE-RET)”。NISE-RET网站是一个由五个工程学系、教育教育学、技术和项目评估专家以及地区学区共同参与的努力。多学科团队将共同努力，为大西洋中部地区提供30名(每年10名)职前和在职中学科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教师，提供一个身临其境的为期六周的暑期项目。暑期计划将在一系列工程学科中广泛接触受自然启发的研究，在选定的工程学科中进行指导性发现和深入研究，并指导开发受研究启发的教学模块，以增强现有的基于标准的课程。NISE-RET网站的更广泛影响集中在为高需求学校服务的参与者的纳入，并强调开发普遍可用的教学模块。将特别强调无障碍实验和多模式/替代输出格式，例如为视觉障碍个人提供的触觉表示和音频图表。因此，NISE-RET网站的倡议和成果将直接影响到高需求的学生，包括残疾学生。

This award provides funding for a 3 year standard award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site program at the University of Delaware entitled, "Nature InSpired Engineering Research Experiences for Teachers (NISE-RET)," under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Barner.The NISE-RET site is a collaborative effort involving five engineering departments, educational pedagogy, technology and program evaluation experts, and regional school districts. Working in concert, the multidisciplinary team will provide 30 (10 per year) pre-service and in-service secondary school Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) teachers serving the mid-Atlantic region with an immersive six-week summer program. The summer program will feature broad exposure to nature inspired research in an array of engineering disciplines, guided discovery and in-depth research in a chosen engineering discipline, and guided development of research inspired teaching modules to enhance existing standards-based curricula.The NISE-RET site's broader impact is focused on the inclusion of participants serving high need schools and an emphasis on the development of universally accessible teaching modules. A particular emphasis will be placed on accessible experiments and multimodal/alternative output formats, such as tactile representations and audio graphs for individuals with visual impairments. Thus, the NISE-RET site initiatives and outcomes will directly impact high need students, including those with disabilities.