Nature Inspired Engineering Research Experiences for Teachers

该奖项为一项为期3年的标准奖项提供资金，以支持特拉华大学工程现场项目的教师研究经验（RET），名为“教师自然启发工程研究经验（NISE-RET）”，由Kenneth Barner博士指导。NISE-RET站点是五个工程部门、教育教育学、技术和项目评估专家以及地区学区共同努力的结果。多学科团队将协同工作，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，并提供为期六周的沉浸式暑期课程。暑期课程将以广泛接触自然启发的工程学科研究为特色，在选定的工程学科中指导发现和深入研究，并指导研究启发教学模块的开发，以增强现有的基于标准的课程。NISE-RET网站更广泛的影响集中在纳入服务于高需求学校的参与者，并强调开发普遍可访问的教学模块。将特别强调可访问的实验和多模态/替代输出格式，如触觉表示和视觉障碍个人的音频图表。因此，NISE-RET网站的举措和结果将直接影响高需求学生，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.