New, GK-12: Ingenuity Incubators Develop NSF Fellow Potential and Prepare Tech Students for Engineering

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NSF GK-12 Proposal # 0947869 PI - Doug Cooper ? University of ConnecticutAbstract: Ingenuity Incubators Prepare Technical High School Students for College Engineering Through collaboration with teachers and students in the Connecticut Technical High School (Tech) System, NSF-funded PhD Fellows will obtain new perspectives on innovative research in sustainable engineering. By working with Tech School students in the classroom, the NSF Fellows will be challenged to expand their collaborative, leadership, teaching and communication skills. They will participate in training and educational activities that will nurture a thoughtful interest in K-12 education. They will seek to elevate the interest and preparedness of Tech School students for their transition into college science or engineering studies, and further develop and enrich the STEM instructional proficiency of Tech School teachers. In this project, NSF Fellows will work in Tech Schools to integrate their novel research in sustainable engineering into a creative innovation project-based classroom curriculum. Specifically, they will mentor pioneering Ingenuity Incubators, which are supplementary activities designed to enhance creativity, knowledge acquisition, leadership and communication skills. Emphasis will be placed on recruitment of NSF Fellows from underrepresented groups. Many Tech Schools are located in economically-depressed regions of Connecticut and enroll significant under-represented minority and women populations. This project will thus have a positive impact on educational engagement and diversity. The innovative programs of this work will strengthen the basic research and GK-12 instructional methods and training activities to the benefit of educational systems in Connecticut. Through systematic dissemination of results, this project will ultimately benefit GK-12 best-practices across the nation.