RET Site: Biologically and Physically Inspired Computing Models and Systems

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This award renews a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site at the University of Notre Dame. The RET Site focuses on engaging local high school teachers in summer research projects that explore computational models inspired by physical and biological systems. The RET Site will develop a strong partnership between Notre Dame and high schools in the greater South Bend, Indiana area, including public and private schools. The site will recruit cohorts of high school teachers in the areas of computer science, biology, math, physics, and other engineering disciplines who will work on compelling research projects with faculty mentors and research teams in the summer and then will implement related learning modules and activities in their classrooms during the academic year. The interdisciplinary nature of the research theme will provide a fertile ground for developing creative and appealing high school lessons and teaching activities in biology, physics, math, and other engineering disciplines that align with state and national curricular standards. The RET Site will engage with a Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) regional chapter and the Indiana Department of Education to help develop strategies to establish computer-science-centric curricula in every high school in the state of Indiana.RET Site teachers will attend a 7-week summer institute to participate in cutting-edge research projects with mentoring from engineering faculty who lead current research programs in the areas of emphasis. The research projects focus on systems that are inspired by biology and the brain, exploit the evolution of a physical system to solve a problem of interest, can be more easily realized with new technologies, and can meet the computational needs of emerging applications. Working with the principal investigators and faculty mentors, teachers will develop innovative, standards-compliant curriculum modules and participate in a number of professional development activities. The teacher-created modules and lessons will be disseminated through the CSTA online repository and TeachEngineering.org, a nationally recognized repository for searchable, standards-based engineering curricula. Extensive follow-up activities are planned throughout the academic year to ensure the translation of lab experiences into classroom practice, and to foster and strengthen long-term partnership between engineering faculty and the local school districts.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.