RET Site: PLACE- Promoting Learning About Computational tools and the Environment

密歇根理工大学(MTU)工程和计算机科学网站的教师研究经验(RET)将侧重于应用计算工具来研究环境工程系统，这是MTU的研究和教学重点领域。研究经验将建立在MTU合作、成熟和基础广泛的多学科研究活动的基础上。教师将了解如何应用最先进的计算工具来研究环境系统，以及如何解决环境问题。这些工具和研究项目在高中科学(地球科学、生物、化学、物理)、数学和社会研究中都有相关的应用。通过这个RET网站，教师和他们的学生将了解环境工程的学科和研究过程，这是一个需要增长和未来实践者日益增长的兴趣的领域。这具有特别的社会意义，因为14个重大工程挑战中的3个(美国国家工程院，2015)直接与环境工程领域有关。该RET网站将为来自密歇根州上半岛学区的30名农村中学STEM教师提供为期六周的密集暑期研究计划，为期三年，其中几个包括大量的美洲原住民学生。每组教师的拟议活动包括：1)RET和博士生参加为期6周的预研体验学院。通过电话会议参与的教师将被介绍给RET计划的目标，提供研究项目的背景，并被要求分享他们在研究、探究式教学和学习方面的经验。博士生导师将被介绍给中学的教学环境和标准，探究式教学，以及基于威斯康星导师研讨会的辅导技能；2)参加MTU为期6周的暑期项目，教师和博士生导师致力于研究项目，最终形成最终的海报演示；3)在暑期研究项目之后的学年，与博士生和在教案制定方面有经验的高级人员合作，参与课程材料的开发、实施和传播。该项目将实现以下目标：(A)中学教师将：了解环境工程学科和研究过程；学习他们可以与学生一起使用的新的计算工具；在有关研究和科学的教学中获得信心；(B)中学生将：提高对环境工程学科的认识；了解模型和其他计算工具如何用于工程和科学，并扩大他们对STEM职业的兴趣；(C)博士生将：通过向他人传授这一技能，加深他们对研究设计的理解；了解如何将研究转化为科学教学和交流；在指导和团队建设方面积累经验。

This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science Site at Michigan Technological University (MTU) will focus on the application of computational tools for researching environmental engineering systems, an area of research and teaching emphasis at MTU. The research experiences will build on collaborative, well-established, and broad based multidisciplinary research activities at MTU. Teachers will gain an understanding of how to apply state of the art computational tools to research environmental systems and how to solve environmental problems. The tools and research projects have relevant applications in high school science (earth sciences, biology, chemistry, physics), math, and social studies. Through this RET Site teachers and their students would be provided an understanding of the discipline of environmental engineering and the research process, which is a field that requires growth and growing interest from future practitioners. This is especially societally relevant as 3 of the 14 grand challenges for engineering (National Academy of Engineering, 2015) directly relate to the field of environmental engineering.This RET Site will offer an intensive six week summer research program for a total of 30 rural secondary STEM teachers over three years from school districts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, several which include significant numbers of Native American students. The proposed activities for each cohort of teachers consist of: 1) participation of RET and PhD students in a 6-week pre-research experience institute. Teachers participating via teleconference will be introduced to the goals of the RET program, provided with background on research projects, and asked to share their experience about research, inquiry-based teaching, and learning. PhD student mentors will be introduced to secondary school teaching environment and standards, inquiry-based teaching, and mentoring skills based on the Wisconsin Mentoring Seminar; 2) participation in a 6-week summer program at MTU where teachers and PhD mentors work on research projects culminating in final poster presentations; and 3) participation, during the academic year following the summer research program, in developing, implementing, and disseminating curricular materials in collaboration with PhD students and senior personnel with experience in lesson plan development. The project will achieve the following objectives: (a) secondary school teachers will: gain an understanding of the discipline of environmental engineering and the research process; learn new computational tools that they can use with their students and; gain confidence in teaching about research and science (b) secondary school students will: gain awareness of the discipline of environmental engineering; gain an understanding of how models and other computational tools are used in engineering and science and; broaden their interest in STEM careers; (c) PhD students will: deepen their understanding of research design through teaching that skill to others; gain an understanding of how to translate research to science teaching and communication and; gain experience in mentoring and team building..