RET Site: Culturally Responsive Energy Engineering Education in Rural/Reservation Elementary Schools

新的蒙大拿州工程教育研究中心（MEERC） RET站点将为至少30名农村和保留地小学教师提供独特的专业发展机会，从事真正的能源研究和工程教育，然后与他们的同事和学生分享这些经验。有证据表明，认同工程的年轻学生更有可能从事工程职业，自我效能感高的教师的学生学习效果更好。MEERC RET网站将通过为期六周的沉浸式体验，将工程学院实验室的动手能源研究与定制的能源工业设施实地考察、同址文化场所和结构化课程开发活动相结合，重点提高教师对工程教育的自我效能感。小学教师参与者将直接与工程和教育教师、研究人员和学生合作，研究能源主题，从建筑能源系统和生物质能到可持续交通基础设施和创新材料电池、风力涡轮机和太阳能电池。MEERC RET网站还将召集一个由地区能源行业代表组成的多元化行业咨询委员会（IAB），分享他们的职业经验，并为工业规模的能源设施提供定制旅游，包括传统发电厂、炼油厂、风力涡轮机农场、水泥厂、水电站和社区规模的太阳能发电厂。此外，现场IAB将直接与参与的小学教师合作，帮助他们开发和实施能源工程课程，包括促进课堂演示和参观（虚拟或实际）附近的工业设施。通过对文化场所和课程开发活动的定制、专家指导和反思之旅，MEERC RET网站项目团队还将与教师合作，了解蒙大拿州宪法条款“人人享有印第安人教育”的基本理解，该条款旨在承认和保护美国印第安人独特的文化遗产。整个学年，现场项目组将帮助小学教师在他们的农村/保留地教室中开发、整合和评估具有文化响应性的能源课程。通过这个跨学科项目，数百名农村和保留地小学生将直接受到其基础科学课程中文化响应性工程教育模块的全年开发、整合和评估的影响。结构化的双向知识交流突出了小学教师的观点和资产，将有助于在学术界、产业界和小学教师之间创建一个学院和合作的生态系统，旨在促进更具包容性的STEM身份形成机会，最终形成更加多样化的STEM劳动力。新的蒙大拿州工程教育研究中心（MEERC） RET站点的三个总体目标是：(1)促进不同农村和保留地学生的包容性工程身份形成；(2)提高小学教师在文化响应工程教育中的自我效能；(3)在地区小学、工业和学术界之间建立合作生态系统，专注于能源研究和多样化未来的工程劳动力。为了实现这些目标，为期三年的MEERC RET现场项目将为至少30名小学教师提供一个引人入胜的、全面的、综合的六周夏季体验，其中(1)在工程实验室中提供真实的能源相关研究体验，并提供适当的脚手架和与小学环境的连接，再加上(2)定制的、有导游的和反思的蒙大拿能源工业设施和附近文化场所之旅；同时(3)在不同的小学教室中促进独特的、高影响力的能源相关工程课程的开发、整合和共享。在追求STEM职业的学生早期STEM识别形成的有效性的激励下，利用现有的合作伙伴关系和多样化的能源相关研究，将从蒙大拿州的农村和保留地社区招募在职和在职小学教师（3-5年级），参加位于波兹曼的蒙大拿州立大学（MSU）的MEERC RET网站。通过结构化的指导、培训和双向知识交流机会，现场参与者将参与与能源相关的实践研究经验，与工程学院和学生一起工作，并直接为资助的研究项目做出贡献，如建筑能源系统、生物质能转换、流体流动过程、能源转换技术材料和可持续运输系统。现场参与者将参观地区能源相关的工业设施，包括传统发电厂、炼油厂、水电站、风力发电厂、水泥厂和太阳能项目。这些实地考察将由密歇根州立大学工程校友提供便利，他们将组成一个行业咨询委员会（IAB），该委员会还将直接与教师和教室接触。MEERC RET站点的一个独特和整体特征将是定制的、专家指导的和有研究信息的旅游，参观具有当地土著文化意义的区域共享场所，包括水牛跳跃、象形文字洞穴、各种博物馆和纪念碑。与会者还将参与以研究为基础的活动，以帮助建立文化意识，并将土著智慧和工程实践结合起来，例如饲养牛皮、鞣制兽皮和制作食物——因为它们与能源有关。在为期六周的体验中，教师将与教育专家合作，开发他们自己的方法，将能源相关的工程教育经验融入他们多样化的小学课堂环境中。现场项目小组还将与教师合作，了解蒙大拿州宪法条款“印第安人全民教育”（IEFA）的基本内容，该条款旨在承认和保护美国印第安人独特的文化遗产。在接下来的学期中，Site项目团队将继续支持参与的教师，以及他们通过Site经验开发的工程课堂活动的整合和评估。项目产品将通过密歇根州立大学和其他地方的既定场所广泛共享，包括teachengineering.org，美国工程教育协会PreK-12 Facebook小组，以及由密歇根州立大学图书馆与蒙大拿州PBS学习媒体共同设计和建造的新建立的开放教育资源中心，该中心将覆盖数千名用户。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The new Montana Engineering Education Research Center (MEERC) RET Site will provide unique professional development opportunities for at least thirty rural and reservation elementary teachers to engage in authentic energy research and engineering education, and then share these experiences with their colleagues and students. Evidence shows that young students who identify with engineering are more likely to pursue engineering careers, and that teachers with higher self-efficacy have students with better learning outcomes. The MEERC RET Site will focus on improving teachers’ self-efficacy for engineering education through an immersive six-week experience combining hands-on energy research within engineering faculty laboratories with customized field trips to energy industry facilities and co-located cultural venues and structured curriculum development activities. Elementary teacher participants will work directly with engineering and education faculty, research staff and students on energy topics ranging from building energy systems and biomass energy to sustainable transportation infrastructure and innovative materials batteries, wind turbines and solar cells. The MEERC RET Site will also convene a diverse industry advisory board (IAB) comprised of regional energy industry representatives to share their career experiences and facilitate customized tours of industry-scale energy facilities including a conventional power plant, a petroleum refinery, a wind turbine farm, a cement plant, a hydroelectric dam, and a community-scale solar power plant. Additionally, the Site IAB will work directly with the participating elementary teachers to help them develop and implement energy-engineering curricula, including facilitating engaging in-class demonstrations and visits (virtual or actual) to nearby industrial facilities. Through customized, expert-guided and reflective tours of cultural venues and curriculum development activities, the MEERC RET Site Project Team will also work with teachers on essential understandings from Montana’s Constitutional Article, Indian Education for All, which aims to recognize and preserve the distinct and unique cultural heritages of American Indians. Throughout the academic year, the Site Project Team will help the elementary teachers develop, integrate, and assess culturally responsive energy curricula within their rural/reservation classrooms. Hundreds of rural and reservation elementary students will be directly impacted by the year-round development, integration and assessment of culturally responsive engineering education modules within their elementary science curricula via this interdisciplinary project. Structured two-way knowledge exchanges highlighting elementary teachers’ perspectives and assets will help create a collegial and collaborative ecosystem among academia, industry, and elementary teachers aimed at promoting more inclusive STEM identity formation opportunities, and ultimately a more diverse STEM workforce. Three overarching goals of the new Montana Engineering Education Research Center (MEERC) RET Site are to (1) promote inclusive engineering identity formation among diverse rural and reservation students by (2) increasing elementary teacher self-efficacy in culturally responsive engineering education via (3) establishing a collaborative ecosystem among regional elementary schools, industry and academia focused on energy research and diversifying the future engineering workforce. To achieve these goals, the three-year MEERC RET Site Project will facilitate an engaging, holistic and integrated six-week summer experience for at least thirty elementary teachers, which (1) provides authentic energy-related research experiences within engineering laboratories and with appropriate scaffolding and connections to elementary settings, coupled with (2) customized, guided and reflective tours of Montana energy industry facilities and nearby cultural venues, all while (3) fostering development, integration and sharing of unique and high-impact energy-related engineering curricula in diverse elementary classrooms. Motivated by the efficacy of early STEM identify formation in students pursuing STEM careers and leveraging both existing partnerships and diverse energy-related research, pre- and in-service elementary teachers (grades 3-5) will be recruited from Montana’s rural and reservation communities to participate in the MEERC RET Site at Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman. Following structured orientations, trainings and two-way knowledge exchange opportunities, Site participants will engage in hands-on energy-related research experiences, working with engineering faculty and students and contributing directly to funded research projects such as building energy systems, biomass energy conversions, fluid flow processes, materials for energy conversion technologies, and sustainable transportation systems. Site participants will tour regional energy-related industrial facilities, including a conventional electric power plant, an oil refinery, a hydroelectric dam, a wind farm, a cement plant, and solar power projects. These site visits will be facilitated by MSU engineering alumni, who will comprise an Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for the Site, which will also engage directly with teachers and classrooms. A unique and integral feature of the MEERC RET Site will be customized, expert-guided and research-informed tours of regionally co-located venues with local Indigenous cultural significance, including a buffalo jump, pictograph caves, various museums, and monuments. Participants will also engage in research-informed activities to help build cultural awareness and incorporate indigenous wisdom and engineering practices, such as tipi raising, hide tanning and food preparation - as they relate to energy. Throughout the six-week experience, teachers will work with education experts to develop their own ways to integrate energy-related engineering educational experiences within their diverse elementary class settings. The Site Project Team will also work with teachers on essential understandings from Montana’s Constitutional Article, Indian Education for All (IEFA), which aims to recognize and preserve the unique cultural heritages of American Indians. During the following academic terms, the Site Project Team will continue to support participating teachers and their integration and assessment of engineering classroom activities developed through their Site experiences. Project products will be shared widely through established venues at MSU and elsewhere, including teachengineering.org, the American Society for Engineering Education PreK-12 Facebook Group, and a newly established Open Education Resource hub being designed and built by the MSU Library in tandem with Montana PBS Learning Media, which reaches thousands of users.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.