A model for high-school teacher professional development and student learning

Abstract

This paper describes a model for high-school teacher professional development and student learning that can be readily adapted by other universities seeking meaningful partnerships with K-12 schools. In this program, university engineering and science faculty work collaboratively with high school teachers to present challenging engineering design projects to high school students.Our program consists of a series of Teacher Workshops for high school teachers, each followed by a Discovery Weekend with their students, and culminating in a challenge weekend. Each project includes a thorough integration of mathematics, science and engineering, thereby leading to a much deeper understanding of how the mathematics and science topics taught in high school are related to engineering design. This approach has led to increased confidence in the high school teachers, increased interest in STEM topics among the students, and a heightened awareness of the role engineering can play in meeting the challenges facing our society. The collaboration between university faculty and high school teachers maximizes the benefit to the students by having both their regular teachers and university faculty directly involved in their projects. It also effectively demonstrates to the students how diverse teams can often provide better solutions to problems.

An Index to Aid in the Development of High School Recruitment of Future Engineering and Science Majors

“…Recruitment efforts in the College of Engineering and Science have been active for decades, however over the past 7 years, we have taken a more targeted approach to recruiting by developing meaningful relationships with high schools through professional development programs for their teachers. 2,3,4 These programs have demonstrated significant increases in students entering our engineering and science programs from these key schools. A number of these schools have moved above the f-index for recent years demonstrating a measure of success for these programs.…”

Building Relationships by Avoiding the "Show-and-Go": A STEM Project for High Schools

“…We specifically look for ways to link The Engineer of 2020 skills (such as communication, global and societal issues, and lifelong learning) to the project in a real-world setting. These projects follow our u-Discovery model 10 : Initiate Understanding, Broaden Understanding, and Deepen Understanding.…”

Building A Collaborative K12 Partnership

“…Our TechSTEP program follows a professional development model that engages high school teachers with the aim of giving them an opportunity to lead students through hands-on engineering projects. We refer to this professional development model as u-Discovery (Understanding through Discovery) 5 , and we propose that this model can be readily adapted by other universities interested in developing meaningful K12 relationships. Currently, TechSTEP has three different projects which are rotated on a three-year cycle.…”

“…Deepen Understanding in the topic area through additional content and a weekend challenge. For more detailed explanation of the u-Discovery model, see [5]. Page 15.247.3…”