RET Site: Research Experiences for Teachers in Neural Engineering

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The 3-year NSF RET site on Neural Engineering at University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) focuses on the rapidly growing field of neural engineering that aims to address the global challenge of not only understanding the functioning of normal and pathological brains, but also devising approaches to address neurological limitations and dysfunction. The field requires a workforce trained across the physical and life sciences, and such training should begin at the K-12 level by incorporating engineering approaches, including the use of models, into STEM education. A multidisciplinary MU team with neuroscience faculty from Engineering, Biology, Psychology and Medicine, will host 10 teachers/year spanning all grades, for a 6-week duration during the summer, from primarily rural districts around Columbia, MO. The goal will be to recruit 90% of the teachers from rural or Title-1 schools. Teachers will spend the majority of the 6-week period in relevant labs engaging in research activities under the mentorship of a professor and graduate students. The program will increase research competency of teachers in core neuroscience concepts and in engineering approaches, that are linked to national education and technology standards, respectively. Teachers will work on neural engineering projects and will develop curricula for K-12 classrooms. In addition to research skills, during weekly classes, teachers will also learn modern technological tools that will influence their classroom teaching. They will also explore the neurobiological underpinnings of learning and its link to improving student experience via group readings from an influential book "Make it Stick" providing a common scientific theme unifying the seemingly diverse neural research projects for the teacher. Year-long follow up will focus on assisting teachers with their needs including incorporating engineering approaches, curricular modules and technological tools into their classrooms, and with planning their conference presentations. The curricular modules developed by the RET program teachers will be submitted to the NSF-supported peer-reviewed portal TeachEngineering.org.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.