RET Site: Collaborative Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Experiences for Teachers (CoMET)

由中佛罗里达大学（UCF）主办的工程和计算机科学教师研究经验（RET）网站，题为“教师协作多学科工程设计经验（CoMET）”，将为K-12 STEM教师提供实践工程设计经验，涵盖物联网（IoT）的各个方面，从传感器的制造到允许其连接到互联网的硬件和软件。传统观点认为互联网是互联电脑、平板电脑和智能手机的集合，用户可以通过浏览器和其他程序访问信息。然而，最近物联网的出现从根本上改变了这一概念。现在连接的设备不仅仅是电脑，还包括家用电器、可穿戴健康监测器和大量可以相互通信的小型传感器。这项创新正在迅速改变我们日常生活的面貌。参与教师将通过科学知识的应用和实践实验，对这一前沿工程研究有新的认识，并开发自己的教学模块，丰富课堂教学。经过培训的教师将能够激发学生对现代技术中科学实际应用的兴趣，这些技术与他们日常使用的网络设备真正相关。这种层层式的教育影响将成为催化剂，通过K-12科学课程在年轻人的头脑中播种科学兴趣，并培养能够进一步推动物联网数字革命的未来科学家和工程师。在三年的时间里，将招募30名K-12 STEM教师，为塞米诺尔、奥兰治和布里瓦德县公立学区的弱势群体服务，这些学区有超过2万名教师和31万名学生，他们将参加为期八周的暑期研究项目，并在接下来的夏天参加为期一周的培训师培训研讨会。该项目将培养合格的教师培训师，通过提供与当前物联网设备和系统技术发展相关的多学科经验，确保高质量的职前和在职教师教育。将实施“培训师培训”模式，使教师成为有效的导师，并促进其他教师在K-12教育环境中的知识获取和应用。为加强“培训师培训”模式，“通用学习设计”将采用设计和实施教学材料的框架，通过主动规避课程障碍来满足个人的需要。参加者将轮流到四个不同的实验室，在导师的指导下学习不同学科的工程实践。教师将开发教学模块，以课堂讲稿、演示包和原型的形式在课堂上部署。这个RET项目将为教师提供学习机会，探索科学在工程应用中的实际应用，并为学生提供一个在课堂上测试自己科学知识的环境，因为他们认识到科学、工程和技术之间的相互作用。该项目的研究结果将在地区、国家和国际会议上发表，并发表在教育期刊上。

This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science Site, entitled, Collaborative Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Experiences for Teachers (CoMET), hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), will provide K-12 STEM teachers with a hands-on engineering design experience covering all aspects of the Internet of Things (IoT), from the manufacturing of a sensor, to the hardware and software that allows it to connect to the internet. The traditional view of the internet is a collection of interconnected computers, tablets, and smartphones by which users can access information through browsers and other programs. However, the recent emergence of IoT radically changes this concept. Now the connected devices are not just computers but also home appliances, wearable health monitors and a very large number of small sensors that can talk to each other. This innovation is rapidly changing the landscape of our daily life. The teacher participants will gain a new insight into this cutting-edge engineering research through the application of scientific knowledge and hands-on experiments, and develop their teaching modules, which will enrich their classroom teaching. The trained teachers will be able to peak students' interest in the practical use of science in modern technologies that are truly relevant to their daily use of networked devices. This cascading educational impact will become the catalyst for seeding scientific interest in young minds through K-12 science classes and raising future scientists and engineers who can advance the IoT digital revolution further. Over a three year period, thirty K-12 STEM teachers, serving underrepresented populations in the Seminole, Orange and Brevard county public school districts, in which there are over 20,000 teachers and 310,000 students, will be recruited and participate in an eight week summer research program and a one week Train-the-Trainer workshop in the following summer. This program will create competent teacher trainers who will ensure quality pre-service and in-service teacher education, by providing multidisciplinary experiences that are relevant to the current technical development in IoT devices and systems. The Train-the-Trainer model will be implemented by which teachers will become effective mentors and facilitate knowledge acquisition and application in K-12 educational settings for other teachers. To bolster the Train-the-Trainer model the "Universal Design for Learning", a framework for the design and implementation of instructional materials will be utilized, meeting the needs of individuals by proactively circumventing curriculum barriers. The participants will rotate to four different laboratories, where they will learn about the practice of engineering in various disciplines under the guidance of faculty mentors. Teachers will develop teaching modules to deploy in the classroom in the form of lecture notes, demonstration kits and prototypes. This RET program will give teachers learning opportunities to explore the practical use of science for engineering applications, and provide a context in which students in their classroom can test their own scientific knowledge as they recognize the interplay among science, engineering and technology. The program findings will be presented at regional, national, and international conferences, and published in educational journals.