RET Site: Collaborative Research: Sustainable Electronics

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This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science Site, a collaborative program between Purdue University and Tuskegee University, will focus on providing high school STEM teachers from Indiana and Alabama with the knowledge and skills to equip their students to become part of a technologically adept workforce as well as informed consumers of sustainable products. The topic of environmentally sustainable electronics provides both context and application to many scientific and engineering principles. Each research project will be mapped to specific high school science standards, which will guide development of high school curricula. Environmental sustainability as a general context should help broaden female and minority participation in engineering. This RET Site will offer an intensive six week summer research program for a total of 33 high school STEM teachers, over a three year period, from school districts in Indiana and Alabama. Working alongside the faculty and doctoral students on research on the entire life cycle of electronics (design, production, packaging, distribution, use and recycling/reuse), these teachers will gain firsthand scientific knowledge of the many facets of creating sustainable electronics. The teachers and faculty will conduct experiments on such topics as using natural resins such as cellulose, lignin, and soy instead of petroleum-based resins to build circuit boards, and cost effectively recovering and reusing electronics instead of sending them to landfills. Field trips to local electronics recycling centers and to companies that design and make computers, cell phones and other electronic devices will provide the participants with insight into real-world aspects of electronics. Teachers will gain scientific proficiency in these areas and convey their new knowledge to their STEM students, hopefully arousing interest to pursue a STEM degree and career after graduation from high school. The teachers also will share their experiences with peers through district, state and national conferences and other professional development opportunities, thus helping to disseminate this knowledge more broadly beyond just their own classrooms. Complementing the research will be a series of professional development activities to enhance teacher quality and support to implement new, standards-based curricula into their science courses at their respective high schools. In addition, the project will provide opportunities for Purdue and Tuskegee graduate students who follow up with the teachers in their classrooms in the school year to observe firsthand the implementation of the principles and knowledge that the graduate students also are obtaining by working with the RET faculty on sustainable-electronics research.