Research Experience for Teachers: Engineering in Precision Agriculture for Rural STEM Educators

北达科他州立大学（NDSU）工程现场教师研究经验（RET）将通过接触工程领域（农村学校通常不教授的学科），在农业框架内加强农村学生及其教师的STEM教育。这个网站让来自北达科他州和明尼苏达州西部的“孤独的STEM教师”沉浸在密集的工程研究经验中，他们是学校或学区7-12年级唯一的STEM教师，重点是农业生物基材料。教师将被介绍到一个多学科的方法来设计新的生物基材料和精准农业技术。由于该地区的经济和生活方式在很大程度上植根于农业，对STEM教师的关注将对教育界有价值，并有可能对农业地区产生全国性的影响。通过将研究和课程计划的重点放在精准农业和生物复合材料的可持续性主题上，现有的农业产区，如北达科他州，可以提高教师和学生的能力，为未来的劳动力做出重大贡献，为后代生产足够的食物、燃料和产品。该网站将在三年内为48名农村STEM教师提供为期六周的密集夏季研究计划，该计划将电气硬件和软件的开发与生物基材料的开发结合起来，用于可持续材料和精准农业的研究。研究领域以化学、物理和数学为基础，自然适合这些农业地区的经济。研究课题包括：生物基树脂和复合材料，测试和评估相关软件，分析土壤传感器等。研究将以小组形式进行，一名在职教师与一名职前教师配对。教师将与机械工程系的导师、博士后助理和研究生密切合作，完成指定的研究项目。拟议的活动包括夏季和学年的8个专业发展日，包括项目前、项目后和后续研讨会，以及在课堂活动中与研究生导师进行持续和实质性的互动。

This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site at North Dakota State University (NDSU) will enhance STEM education for rural students and their teachers, through exposure to the engineering field, a subject not generally taught in rural schools, within an agricultural framework. This Site immerses 'solitary STEM teachers', from North Dakota and western Minnesota, who are the only STEM teachers for grades 7-12 in their school or district in an intensive engineering research experience with an agricultural emphasis on biobased materials. The teachers will be introduced to a multidisciplinary approach to the design of new biobased materials and precision agriculture technology. Since the region's economy and way of life are strongly rooted in agriculture, the focus on solitary STEM teachers will be valuable to the educational community as well as having potential for nationwide impact on agricultural regions. By focusing the research and lesson plans on the theme of sustainability in precision agriculture and biocomposite materials, existing agricultural producing regions, like North Dakota, can increase teachers and students abilities to significantly contribute to the future workforce for producing enough food, fuel, and products for the next several generations.This Site will offer an intensive six week summer research program for a total of 48 rural STEM teachers over three years that unites the development of electrical hardware and software with biobased materials for investigations in sustainable materials and precision agriculture. The research areas are chemistry, physics, and mathematics based, and are a natural fit for the economy of these agricultural regions. Research topics include: biobased resins and composites, testing and evaluating relevant software, and analyzing soil sensors, among others. Research will be conducted in teams with an in-service teacher being paired with a pre-service teacher. Teachers will work closely with Mechanical Engineering Department faculty mentors, post-doctoral assistants, and graduate students on assigned research projects. The proposed activities include 8 professional development days during the summer and academic year including pre-program, post-program, and follow-up workshops, along with ongoing and substantive interactions with graduate student mentors in classroom activities.