Research Experiences for Teachers: Civil Engineering Instruction for Secondary Education Teachers

这项教师研究经验(RET)计划的目标是(1)通过切实的实践课程来加深对土木工程的理解，(2)在北达科他州(ND)的初中和高中(中等教育)教师中培养更好的能力，为他们的学生准备成为未来科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域的领导者。这项建议的目的是在北达科他州州立大学(NDSU)创建和建立一个可再生能源工程场地，供中等教育工作者加深他们对如何利用土木工程来减轻该地区和全球自然灾害的了解。该计划的目标受众是在STEM领域任教的6至12年级教育工作者，这些学校服务于大量服务不足和代表性不足的群体，包括女性、西班牙裔、非裔美国人和美洲原住民学生。教师将在南洋理工大学土木工程与环境工程(CEE)的实验室中，围绕“减轻自然灾害”这一主题，亲身体验真实的研究经验，以帮助解决影响该地区和全球的自然灾害问题，包括极端天气、洪水、极端温度、山体滑坡、地震、干旱、野火和火山活动。这些活动将使他们能够将研究经验联系起来，以改进内容知识，这将转化为在课堂上改进中学STEM教育。在为期六周的暑期体验中，教师将与教师和研究生在这些持续项目上合作，以实现两个结果：(1)通过他们的研究熟练掌握技术内容，(2)开发与该研究重点相关的课程模块。该RET计划的另一个重点是促进现有教师和主要对STEM教育感兴趣的职前教师之间的指导关系。该计划将为职前教师提供一个独特的机会，在研究的基础上创造自己的课程，并在现有STEM教师的课堂上教授课程。这将带来更多的实践课堂教学体验，为职前教师未来的职业生涯做好更好的准备。这一RET计划预期的更广泛影响是激励年轻人继续解决与自然灾害有关的现实世界问题。由于这项计划的重点是服务于与工程学科相关的代表性不足和服务不足的人群的教师，课程模块将直接有助于增加对STEM机会的接触和兴趣，否则这些学生将无法获得这些机会。这项计划的另一个影响是促进中学教育工作者、大学教师和土木工程行业之间更好的关系和网络，这将延伸到RET计划的持续时间。最终，该计划将改善课程和学生为STEM学科的研究和领导力做好准备。RET项目的主题是“减轻自然灾害”。来自真实夏季研究经验的出版物和演示文稿将传播对自然灾害期间面临的问题的解决方案，包括对处于危险中的基础设施的快速评估、对有效疏散路线的实时分析、更好的防洪模拟和模型，以及评估对基础设施的潜在次要威胁。作为该计划的一部分进行的研究创造的知识将有助于在自然灾害期间和之后营救和拯救生命，改善资源分配，并创建更具弹性的社区。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goals of this Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program are to (1) provide a deeper understanding of civil engineering with tangible hands-on curriculum and (2) develop better abilities among middle and high school (secondary education) teachers in North Dakota (ND) to prepare their students to become future leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The objective of this proposal is to create and establish a RET Engineering site at North Dakota State University (NDSU) for secondary educators to deepen their knowledge on how civil engineering can be used to mitigate natural disasters in the region and globally. The target audience for this program is 6th to 12th grade educators teaching in the STEM fields from schools that serve large populations of underserved and underrepresented groups including females, Hispanic, African American and Native American students. Teachers will be engaged in hands-on authentic research experiences revolving around the theme of “mitigating natural disasters” in the labs of NDSU Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) to help address issues impacting the region and globally from natural disasters including extreme weather, flooding, extreme temperatures, landslides, earthquakes, drought, wildfires, and volcanic activities. These activities will allow them to bridge research experiences to improve content knowledge which will translate to improved secondary STEM education in their classrooms. Teachers will work with faculty and graduate students on these continuing projects during the six-week summer experience towards two outcomes: (1) gain proficiency in the technical content through their research and (2) develop a curricular module related to that research focus. An additional focus of this RET program is to foster mentorship between current teachers and pre-service teachers primarily interested in STEM education. The program will provide pre-service teachers with a unique opportunity to create their own lessons based on research and teach the curriculum in the classrooms of the current STEM teachers. This will result in more hands- on classroom teaching experiences to better prepare pre-service teachers for their future careers.The anticipated broader impacts of this RET program are to inspire young minds to continue to solve real-world problems related to natural disasters. As this program focuses on teachers that serve in under- represented and under-served populations relative to the engineering discipline, the curricular modules will directly contribute to an increased exposure and interest to STEM opportunities that these students would otherwise not receive. Another impact of this program is to foster better relationships and networking between secondary educators, university faculty, and the civil engineering industry that will extend beyond the duration of the RET program. Ultimately, the program will improve curriculum and student preparedness for research and leadership within STEM disciplines. The theme of the RET program is to “mitigate natural disasters.” Publications and presentations from the authentic summer research experiences will disseminate solutions to issues faced during natural disasters including rapid assessment of at-risk infrastructure, real-time analyses of efficient evacuation routes, better simulations and models for flood protection, and evaluate potential secondary threats to the infrastructure. The knowledge created from the research conducted as part of this program will help to rescue and save lives during and after a natural disaster, improve resource allocation, and create more resilient communities.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.