Industries of the Future Research Experience for Preservice Teachers in STEM Settings

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This project aims to serve the national need of preparing prospective high school teachers through research experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Settings. The project will provide summer research opportunities for prospective secondary STEM teachers to engage in Industries of the Future (IotF) research, comprising artificial intelligence, quantum information science, advanced manufacturing, advanced communications, and biotechnology. The project intends to aid the formation of a strong partnership among the University of Houston and Houston metropolitan area school districts and local industries. The IotF research areas are cutting-edge and prospective teachers will be guided in transferring STEM knowledge into innovative course modules. The cross-disciplinary nature of the research allows an opportunity to incorporate the results in a wide variety of courses for high school students.This project at the University of Houston includes partners with high-need school districts, including the Spring Branch and Alief districts in the Houston metropolitan area. Project goals include: 1) Recruit 30 prospective high school teachers with diverse backgrounds from the teachHOUSTON teacher education program; 2) Provide interdisciplinary and hands-on research experiences to stimulate the interest of STEM prospective teachers; and 3) Develop course modules by translating cutting-edge research in IotF for high school classrooms, and meeting Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards. Various enrichment activities, including field trips, will allow prospective teachers to connect academic research with real-world engineering and technology. Academic-year follow-up includes course module discussion and feedback from field teaching experiences. Participants’ research experiences will be disseminated to other prospective teachers through workshops, a website, conference and journal publications, and other channels. Through the partnership with schools in the Houston metropolitan, the project will likely influence the learning and career paths of high school students, especially those from underserved districts and underrepresented groups in Texas. This Noyce Research Experiences for Pre-service Teachers project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need districts. It also supports research on the retention and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need 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.