RET Site: Reinvigorating Energy Teaching (RET) via Research with Engineers

该项目旨在利用美国国家科学基金会（NSF）工程（ENG）董事会支持工程和计算机科学计划中的教师研究经验（RET），以建立一个新的RET网站，并在路易斯维尔，肯塔基州大都会地区的高等教育，公立学校系统和能源相关行业之间建立协同的三角合作关系。该合作伙伴关系包括路易斯维尔大学（UofL）主办机构和杰斐逊县公立学校（JCPS）系统区的工程和教育学院的教师。从JCPS选择科学教师将参加为期六周的夏季经验与UofL工程师在能源相关的研究和教育工作。这些教师将利用这一经验来修改和增加现有的科学课程，为下一学年及以后。能源是所有科学领域的统一主题。能量描述了基本上所有科学系统中的物理相互作用，并跨越了所有学科的科学边界。高中教师将加强他们对工程研究的看法，特别是关于工程设计的变化，这是肯塔基州高中科学标准的一部分。他们还将在夏季的6周内进行沉浸式体验，这将为他们提供更多的想法和能源工程实际应用和探索的例子-这对于将其纳入现有的高中课程非常有用。工程系教师和研究生将受益于对高中科学教学背景和目标的更深入了解-许多进入工程系的学生都是从这些学校录取的。在现代世界与能源有关的环境，政治和经济问题的背景下，支持更强大的能源文化的经验对所有人都有帮助。随后提高高中学生对基本能源概念和工程设计原则的理解，预计将对学生对STEM相关职业的兴趣产生积极影响。该项目将在3年的时间内进行，每年有10名JCPS高中科学教师参加夏季能源工程研究实验室，并利用这些经验为高中生的教学提供信息。教师的学习经验（S）发生在一个研究密集型，以实验室为基础的设置，包括JCPS教师，从UofL执业工程师，并从当地能源相关行业的代表在为期6周的夏季会议。此外，在夏季会议期间，在UofL项目人员的指导下，教师将根据他们的RET经验开发课程模块，然后将其纳入下一学年的课堂实践。这一可再生能源经验的教学将主要集中在能源科学和研究，以及高中工程教育。此外，下一代科学标准（NGSS）和工程设计（包括团队合作和沟通的重要性）的关键方面将在整个计划中得到体现，并应用于能源相关的活动，以支持教师对能源科学的理解。夏季会议期间的工作将是个人和群体为基础的混合，并将包括研究经验，教学规划，行业演示和图尔斯，以及课程开发。项目人员将在整个学年持续提供教师支持，并制定了方法（包括网站、会议演示和研讨会以及社交媒体），以确保向公众和JCPS机构的其他成员传播项目成果。该项目由工程局（ENG）共同资助，工程教育和中心部（EEC）和激励竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to leverage the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Engineering (ENG) supporting Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science program in order to establish a new RET site and implement a synergistic, triangular partnership between higher education, the public school system, and energy-related industry in the Louisville, KY metro area. The partnership includes faculty from the Colleges of Engineering and Education at the University of Louisville (UofL) host institution and the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) system district. Select science teachers from JCPS will participate in a six-week summer experience working with UofL engineers on energy-related research and education. These teachers will utilize this experience to modify and augment existing science curriculum for the following academic school year and beyond. Energy represents a unifying theme across all scientific domains. Energy describes physical interactions within essentially all scientific systems, and crosses all disciplinary scientific boundaries. The high school teachers will strengthen their perspectives on engineering research, particularly with respect to variations in engineering design, a topic that is part of the high school science standards in Kentucky. They will also have an immersion experience over the 6 weeks of summer that will give them additional ideas and examples of real-world uses and explorations in energy engineering - useful context for incorporating into their existing high school courses. The engineering faculty and graduate students will benefit from a deeper understanding of the context and goals of high school science teaching - schools from which many of the entering engineering students have matriculated. In a context of energy-related environmental, political, and economical concerns of the modern world, experiences to support a stronger energy-literate culture are helpful for all. Subsequent improvements to high school student understandings of fundamental energy concepts and engineering design principles are expected to have a positive impact on student interest in STEM-related careers. The project is to take place over a 3-year period, with 10 JCPS high school science teachers each year participating in the summer energy engineering research labs, and using those experiences to inform their teaching of high school students. The learning experience(s) of the teachers take place in a research-intensive, laboratory-based setting and includes JCPS teachers, practicing engineers from UofL, and representatives from local energy-related industry during a 6-week summer session. Also during the summer session, under the guidance of UofL project personnel, teachers will develop curricular modules informed by their RET experience that will afterwards be incorporated into their classroom practice during the following academic year. Instruction for this RET experience will be focused predominantly on energy science and research, and high school engineering education. Additionally, key aspects of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and engineering design (including the criticality of teamwork and communication) will be featured throughout the program and applied to energy-related activities in an effort to support teacher understanding of energy science. Undertakings during the summer session will be a mix of individual- and cohort-based, and will include research experiences, pedagogical planning, industry presentations and tours, and curriculum development. Teacher support from project personnel will be continuous throughout the academic year(s), and methods have been developed (including website(s), conference presentations and workshops, and social media) to ensure sound dissemination of project deliverables to both the general public and the remainder of the JCPS body.This project is jointly funded by the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.