RET in Engineering and Computer Science Site: Engineering of Polymeric Films and Interfaces

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This award provides funding for a three year standard award for a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science Site Program at the University of Akron entitled, RET in Engineering and Computer Science Site: Engineering of Polymeric Films and Interfaces, under the direction of Dr. Kevin A. Cavicchi. The objective of this RET site is to bring ten high school science teachers from the Akron, Ohio Public Schools and the Canton, Ohio City Schools, for eight weeks each summer over a three year period (total of 30 teachers) to the University of Akron campus to participate in a research program focused on polymeric films and interfaces. Polymers are a key component of many engineering challenges facing society today and are therefore an excellent topic to expose teachers to engineering research. A group of ten University of Akron faculty members has been assembled from the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering and the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering to mentor the teachers on independent research projects in the faculty members' laboratories. The primary result of this work will be the teachers learning about engineering and engineering research and effectively disseminating this knowledge in their high school classrooms through new curriculum developed during the summer RET experience. It will have a beneficial impact on the teachers, the faculty mentors, and the graduate student/post-doc mentors. For the teachers they will gain increased confidence and knowledge in performing and mentoring inquiry based science in their classrooms. This will help invigorate their classrooms and encourage students to pursue further science and engineering education in college. The University of Akron mentors will be exposed to a broader range of science practitioners. This experience will develop long-term relationships between the University and high schools that will better serve the education objectives of the United States.