Forming, Advancing, and Sustaining Teacher-Engineer Relationships (FASTER)

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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 Columbia University entitled, Forming, Advancing, and Sustaining Teacher-Engineer Relationships (FASTER), under the direction of Dr. Raimondo Betti and Mr. Jay Dubner. Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will use all of the resources at its disposal to develop an RET site which will provide pre-college science teachers with a mentored engineering laboratory experience. The proposed RET site will place ten public middle and high school teachers in Columbia's research laboratories headed by faculty members with appointments in the School of Engineering and Applied Science for 8 weeks in each of two consecutive summers. An additional secondary school teacher will work in an environmental engineering laboratory at James Cook University in Australia for 6 weeks. Nine of the ten domestic placed teachers will be from the New York metropolitan area. The tenth teacher will be from a secondary school in Singapore. Their research experience will be enhanced through weekly pedagogical meetings.FASTER's primary goal is to facilitate long-term collaborative partnerships between secondary school science teachers and university researchers by involving teachers in engineering research and helping them translate their new knowledge into classroom activities. The ultimate recipients will be New York City area students whose population are largely underrepresented in the sciences and engineering. Columbia University faculty will provide teachers with opportunities to gain hands on experience with the tools and materials of science and engineering in an environment attuned to professional development. Thus, teachers understanding of engineering and their ability to develop and lead inquiry- and standards-based science classes and laboratories will improve. In addition, the teachers will be exposed to a new perspective and a different professional culture which enables them to communicate the vitality and dynamism of applied science to their students and colleagues.